


The Seven Deadly Sins

by jensooni



Category: BLACKPINK (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Angst, Death, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Fights, Fluff, M/M, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 48,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29309046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jensooni/pseuds/jensooni
Summary: Kim Jisoo is an ordinary girl with an ordinary life, until one day, she is transported to a different realm without any warning. Her world then changes entirely, especially when she meets Jennie Kim, the girl she isn't supposed to fall in love with.
Relationships: Bae Joohyun | Irene/Kang Seulgi, Jennie Kim/Kim Jisoo, Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V, Lalisa Manoban | Lisa/Park Chaeyoung | Rosé, Park Sooyoung | Joy/Son Seungwan | Wendy
Kudos: 11





	1. Into the Unknown

**Author's Note:**

> This story is an Isekai, a genre used a lot these days in Japanese Manga and Anime. This type of story has been on my mind for quite sometime, so I decided, why not? I should just go for it. I am sorry if my English is not that great, but I do hope you can support this fic.
> 
> I'll try to update as much as I can, when I am not busy with work.

**Jisoo's POV**

I squinted my eyes as I observed my surroundings. Everything seemed quiet, but I knew time was running out. I held my gun, sweat forming at the top of my brows.

I must admit, my trigger finger was getting itchy, but I had to be patient if I wanted to survive this, there was so much at stake here. I must pick my battles in order to get out of here alive.

My head snapped as I heard something. Gunshots!

Shit! They were so close! I moved a little so my hiding spot wouldn't be compromised.

I tried to see if I could pinpoint the location of my enemies, and yes, I was able to see them. Three left.

I hastily moved out of my hiding spot, I knew I could take out two of them with my sniper rifle, but I needed to be quick. The minute I fired a single shot, they would know I was there. They would know my location.

But I was confident, this was my time.

I checked my scope, I knew I could take them on.

I breathed. _Alright Kim Jisoo, here we go!_

I picked out my target and adjusted my scope, making sure that he was in my cross hairs. Within a split second, I fired. It was a head shot, there was no way in hell he was surviving that hit.

I quickly changed directions to my next target who was already somewhat alerted to my presence. But before he could move, I was able to fire another round straight into his skull.

Now there was only one enemy left, and he was running towards my hiding spot.

My breath quickened and my heart-rate went up. This was it, the final round.

I quickly changed to my semi-automatic rifle. I waited, I knew I had the upper hand as he was not aware of my exact location, and time was ticking.

Suddenly, he charged in, spraying bullets in every direction.

 _Good, he's panicking._ I thought to myself.

I waited until he was done shooting, then I stood up and was able to fire a few choice rounds to critical parts of his body. A few seconds later, he was dead.

I gave a wide smile.

I looked at my screen and it showed me the text:

**WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER**

I stretched out my tired muscles, it had been a great night for gaming. So far I was doing good on my PUBG solo runs. Usually, I went in with a squad, but all my friends were busy. If PUBG got boring, my friends and I also played Overwatch or World of Warcraft.

My guilty pleasure though was playing Cookie Run on my mobile phone, but my friends didn't need to know that.

They laughed at mobile phone games, and I didn't want them teasing me about it.

People who just got to know me would be surprised when they found out that I was a huge gamer and a geek.

Some guys would even comment that I was "too pretty" to be one. Some even went as far as stalking me online and asking me to be their girlfriend, telling me that I was the perfect person they wanted to be in a relationship with.

I barely knew them and besides that, I was a lesbian. Even when I told them that, they would still insist until I would block them indefinitely.

It was annoying, and at times almost creepy, but it's just some of the crap I had to put up with.

My phone rang and when I checked the caller ID, I saw it was Jinyoung. He was one of my closest friends and my constant online buddy. I decided to take the call.

_"Hey Jinyoung! Wassup?"_

_"Hey Jisoo! I just got home and was wondering if you wanted to do some Mythic dungeon runs with me?"_

_"I just finished binge-playing PUBG and I'm getting a little sleepy."_

_"Come on, I just need 1 to 2 runs to get my mythic key up. Besides, you're a tank, so it'll be easy to get people for a group."_

_"Healers are a bitch to find you know, especially for higher mythic keys."_

_"Yeah, but not as hard to find as tanks."_

_"It's the same, trust me. I waited almost an hour for one the last time I played, and I am a tank. Wait times aren't exactly what we're used to."_

_"Well that sucks."_

_"Tell me about it."_

_"Aw come on, just 1 run. If it takes too long, I'll just do it by myself since it resets tomorrow."_

I thought about it for a bit, I had work early in the morning, but I guess 1 run wouldn't hurt. Also, Jinyoung does help me with any of my gaming tasks from time to time.

" _Ugh, fine, I'll login. But just one run alright? I still have work tomorrow."_

_"Great! Thanks Jis! I owe you one! I swear, it'll just be one dungeon, and then we're good."_

_"Okay, okay. Logging into WoW now. See you online."_

_"See you! Thanks again, Jis!"_

He ended the call, and I sat on my computer chair.

I closed PUBG and opened WoW in it's place. I heard the intro music and then saw the login screen. I was about to go in when the graphics suddenly changed into weird, squiggly lines.

"What the fuck? I just bought a new video card!" I exclaimed, while slapping the monitor. Nothing changed.

"Seriously?"

I went down and checked all the cables to see if anything was out if place or if the card was installed properly. So far I could not find any problems. I didn't have an extra cable to try and see if my monitor was the reason causing this problem.

I looked back at my screen and it seemed that the images were starting to shift.

_Huh. That's weird._

I looked at my screen intently, there seemed to be something in there that I couldn't quite see. I pressed a finger on it and was shocked to find that it went through the monitor.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed as I quickly removed my hand from the screen.

I stared at it, not comprehending what was happening. I rubbed my eyes, not believing about what I was seeing or experiencing.

_I'm just hallucinating. Get a grip, Jisoo, you just need some sleep._

I took in a deep breath and gathered my thoughts.

_I'll just explain to Jinyoung that my video card is acting up. He'll understand, besides, I think really need rest. I am starting to see weird things._

I inhaled and gathered the courage to touch the screen of my monitor once again. The logical part of my brain told me that I was just seeing things, but something in my gut told me that I wasn't. But I had to know, I had to confirm that it was just my imagination, and nothing else. So I touched it.

And nothing.

I didn't realize that I was holding my breath. I exhaled slowly and let out a small chuckle.

_This is what I get for playing too many video games and dabbling with DND in my spare time._

I was going to take my hand off, but I realized that it wouldn't budge. I tried to pull it out with more force, but it wasn't working.

"What the f-"

Suddenly I felt some pressure on it and I realized my hand was being sucked in by my monitor.

I tried to tug it out, but to no avail. Then suddenly, without warning, my whole body was sucked in completely.

I remember spinning and spinning, everything was dark and I couldn't see a damn thing.

"Heeeeeeeeelp! Heeeeeeeeelp!" I screamed, feeling helpless and wishing that this nothing more some weird, energy-drink infused nightmare.

I closed my eyes, I was scared shitless, I had no idea what was happening or if any of this was even real. Suddenly, I felt a thud and I collapsed on to a hard surface.

I opened my eyes and squinted as they adjusted to the sunlight. I was surprised to find myself in a grassy area full of trees. I sat up, feeling really confused and at the same time afraid.

I looked around nervously, something was not right.

_Jisoo, this is just a dream. It's just a dream. Nothing is real, it is too impossible for it to be._

I told myself, so I could calm down. That's when I noticed her. She was calmly squatting in front of a tree, her back leaning against it.

Her long dark brown locks were tied into a ponytail, and her cat eyes were observing me quietly. She had plump cheeks and rich full lips and looks like a body to die for. She was really gorgeous, and I might say, definitely my type. But she had such a serious expression.

What she wore though was an all-black ninja outfit with black boots to match, and she had a long stick in her hand. She smirked at me.

"Took you long enough." She said.


	2. Mysterious

**Jennie's POV**

Jennie stood up and observed the girl in front of her.

As she sized her up, she noted that she had long, beautiful raven hair and her almond-shaped brown eyes conveyed confusion and a hint of fear in them. She had pinkish heart-shaped lips and had a slim figure. Jennie admitted to herself that the girl was in fact, quite attractive.

But despite this, she was very unimpressed with her. Jennie could tell from one glance that she was not into any kind of physical activity, or even knew how to fight.

She had been waiting for her arrival for a few hours now. Her superiors had been quite adamant about how important this mission was, and that she had to be the one to do it.

As it was a Class S mission, naturally, she would be the first choice, as she was the best in her field. They weren't exactly keen on giving her details about it, which was very odd. But since it was her job, she had no choice in the matter.

However, after meeting her mark, it seemed that all she had to do was a simple escort mission. That meant she had to babysit this person all the way back to headquarters, which trainees could easily do. She must be someone of great importance if it was ranked as Class S, and for them to call on her of all people.

She huffed with irritation at the thought, they could just have told her. Since she had no choice and was already here, she decided to stand up and approach the girl.

As she walked towards her, she bore her gaze into the mystery girl, who looked even more flustered.

She had to confirm first, of course, if she was the mark.

"What's your name?" Jennie asked as she stopped in front of her.

"W-wha-, uhm, I-I mean, m-m-my name is...K-K-Kim Jisoo." She stuttered.

So far, the voice recognition device she was carrying did not alert her to any danger. Which means, that this was definitely the right person she was waiting for, plus she also provided her with the correct name.

She sighed, knowing that she had more important things to do, but she was stuck with this. She pushed those thoughts out, and tried to focus on the job at hand.

"Stand up and follow me. It's going to be a long way back, and this forest is a bit dangerous, so make sure to stick with me at all times." Jennie said, putting her Bo behind her.

Jisoo stood up right away, and dusted herself off.

"Okay, uhm, well, how about you, what's your name?" Jisoo asked.

"It's best for now that you don't know who I am. Let's get going."

"A-alright. But uhm..well, to be honest I don't know where I am or if this is real, or if you could be trusted. This is just freaking me out a bit, I'm sorry."

Jennie smirked again. "Trust? Well, if you feel that I am a danger to you, you are free to stay and I can go ahead and leave." Jennie simply stated, and turned around to start walking.

Jisoo's eyes widened, and she immediately ran towards the girl.

"Wait!" Jisoo shouted while gripping her wrist, Jennie turned around and glared at her, and the girl let go immediately.

"I-I'm sorry. I just...I have no idea what is going on and I suddenly get here and have a ninja like you telling me that you're going to escort me somewhere. Who knows you might harvest me for body parts...or make me fight in an arena...or.."

Jennie scoffed, this girl had a really active imagination. She couldn't fault her for that though, she had traveled from a different dimension after all. Everything must be really confusing and scary for her, but she didn't have time to explain. She was instructed to leave this place right away as soon as she arrived. Everything about this girl was classified. She barely knew the reason why she was sent here herself.

"I know you want answers, and as much as I want to explain some things to you right now, I can't. But if you go with me, you might be able to find what you are looking for."

Jisoo hesitated, Jennie clearly seeing the conflicting emotions on her face.

"We can't stay here long, I was warned not to, and it's best that we leave as soon as we can." Jennie informed her.

As soon as those words left her mouth, two blurs descended upon them, Jennie barely escaping the blade that was meant for her throat. She jumped back swiftly and was in front of Jisoo, making sure she can see clearly see her surroundings.

"Oh my God, what was that?!" Jisoo exclaimed.

"Shh...I need you to be quiet and just stay where you are. I'll handle this." Jennie said, her combat instincts now fully awakened. Her cat eyes found the two suspects. Both of them were male and also clad in black, but she was able to recognize their faces from the wanted posters their base had.

 _Two assassins from the Blood Legion, this is definitely serious._ She thought to herself.

The Blood Legion was the most feared criminal clan in their land, the number one reason being that they were bent on taking over all the available dimensions to meet their twisted views of peace.

Their fighters were well-trained and definitely somebody you wouldn't want to mess with. Jennie was confused as to why she was not informed that members of Blood Legion might show up. She now somewhat understood why this was a Class S mission. She just hoped she could handle them both, while making sure that Jisoo was safe.

The two assassins had started moving in opposite directions. Jennie took her Bo from her back and got ready. She was just thankful that not one of them was a mage, it would have been very difficult to tangle with them without any support. She was on the defensive now.

The assassin on her right made the first strike. She quickly put one end of her Bo on the ground and used it to swing her body towards her attacker, who deftly avoided her kick, but the purpose of that was to distract him and make sure she would be in time to counter the second, who was on his way to attack Jisoo.

Using her Bo like a pole, when the kick didn't hit, she continued her momentum until she made a 180 degree turn, then quickly landed on the ground and jumped towards the second attacker who was somewhat caught by surprise as her Bo landed square on his face, making him stagger back. Jennie was about to connect a second attack but he was able to block it on time.

All 3 fighters' movements were quick and precise. Jennie could feel how tough these assailants were, but despite that, she continued to attack and parry as best as she could. Jennie knew they were good, but she knew she was better.

As their weapons clashed against each other, Jennie was calculating the right time to strike one of them down, so it could be easier for her to deal with the other opponent. All she needed to do was to pinpoint their weakness.

As they were fighting, she observed that the other assassin was more focused on making his attacks using his right, and was not that quick when trying to block any attacks coming from the left. She decided to use this to her advantage.

Hitting the other assassin on the stomach so he wouldn't be able to help his comrade right away, she charged her target, making sure to try and attack his right side. He took the bait, and tried to strike her, but she was able to dodge it. Then she tried connecting another successive attack, which he blocked, leaving his left side vulnerable.

She then used the other end of her Bo to strike the exposed part of his defense, making sure to hit his liver. The assassin staggered back and she took that opportunity to use her left hand to disarm the weapon on his right by twisting his hand. She then proceeded to attack him with a series of kicks and hits with her Bo until he fell to the ground, unconscious. All of this happened in a matter of seconds.

Not surprisingly, the second assassin tried to stab her on the back, but she was able to dodge it on time. She smirked at him.

"If I were you, I'd give up now and tell me the reason why you are here." Jennie told him.

"As if you could defeat me." He answered her cockily.

"You couldn't graze me even if you had your partner with you. What makes you think you could take me on alone?" She told him nonchalantly.

The assassin's face went red due to anger and embarrassment.

"You cocky little bitch! Watch me as I cut off that pretty face of yours."

"Probably the only action you'll ever get from a pretty girl." She smirked.

The assassin bared his teeth and started attacking her. _Good, he's letting his anger get the best of him._

They both clashed once again, strategically trying to find an opening to hit. Jennie had to admit that this guy was a much better fighter than his partner, but she noticed that he sometimes let his attacks go too wide, slowing down his reaction time.

She knew this was due to the fact he was letting his anger get the best of him. She smiled as she set-up her trap.

_Like a spider to a fly._

She was on the offensive now, relentlessly attacking with her Bo while he parried and dodged, and would attack in return. Despite this, Jennie was patient, she knew that she needed the right timing in order to execute her plan.

Finally, she found her opening. Jennie had attacked and the assassin was able to parry it. He then kicked her on the stomach ruthlessly, making her stagger back. He then swung his knife towards her, but like in slow-motion, Jennie could see how wide the attack was going to be.

She quickly ducked the strike and proceeded to ram him using her body. The force of the attack made him drop his knife and they both fell down.

Jennie punched him in the face, but he was able to block and counter her. They were fighting fiercely on the ground, trading punches, until Jennie was able to get a grip on his arm and twisted it. The assassin screamed in pain. She then turned his body and locked his arm from behind.

"And here I thought you would be more of a challenge."

"Shut up!" He said, his face grimacing in pain.

"Why were you here?"

"You will not get any information from me."

She then tightened her hold. He gritted his teeth.

"I could break your arm slowly, you know."

"I don't care if you break my whole body, or make me suffer. I will never betray the organization!"

Jennie knew he was serious.

"Oh? Well, I guess I could take you guys back. I am sure you are aware that we do have people trained in the subtle art of forceful persuasion. I have heard it is not a very pleasant experience."

His eyes widened, he knew what she meant. She was going to take him to the mindbreakers, Warlocks who were trained to extract information directly from their brain. He had heard that the process was excruciating, and few survived it. Some of those who did ended up in a vegetative state, or simply went insane. He chuckled, he knew he didn't have a choice.

"I am giving you a choice. Either the hard way, or...the harder way. Don't be stupid."

"Well then, I guess I did the best I could to serve the Legion."

He then extracted something hidden behind his teeth using his tongue and bit on it before Jennie could realize what was happening. His body went completely limp once he did that, and she knew he was dead. She let him go and got up, exhaling a frustrated breath.

"Suicide. Of course, I should have known."

She turned and noticed that the other assassin had disappeared. She then took her Bo from the ground, and saw that Jisoo was frozen on the spot, eyes wide and was white as a sheet.

If what had transpired wasn't serious, she could've have sworn she would laugh at her state. She then went to her.

"Are you alright?"

Jisoo looked at her, "I-I am not really sure. Who were those people?"

"They are people you definitely don't want to meet again."

Jisoo nodded, still in shock. Jennie then placed her Bo on her back.

"Come with me if you want to live." She then proceeded to turn around and walk.

Jisoo had no choice but to follow the mysterious woman.  
  



	3. Disappointment

**Jennie's POV**

Jennie was guiding Jisoo out of the forest, and while doing so, she hasn't been more annoyed at someone than when she had met this girl.

She was aware right from the get go that physical activity was definitely not something the girl did, but her constant whining and asking them to stop and rest was getting on her nerves. She was also very clumsy, always stumbling on something or getting caught by the branches of the trees.

She had glared at Jisoo a few times, who got scared at first, but later on seemed to have gotten used to it.

 _Why the hell am I stuck with babysitting this child?!_ She thought to herself angrily as Jisoo asked to rest for the hundredth time.

They still had an hour's time of travel left, well, normally that's how long it would take, but Jennie knew with Jisoo in tow, it would require more time than that.

"You've been asking to stop and rest several times now. It's important that we reach our destination before dark as the path will get more difficult." Jennie informed her, her impatience showing in her voice.

Jisoo pouted, "Well, aside from being sucked into this world for some reason, nobody warned me that I needed to do some strenuous physical activity! My legs can barely move from all the walking we have been doing. Don't you have a mount or something? Like a horse, perhaps?" she whined, clearly upset.

"A mount? What is that? We also don't use horses. We have Velocycles, but due to security reasons, I was advised not to use one."

"A mount is a form of transport you can ride on, like that Velo-thingy you mentioned."

Jennie sighed, "Well, unfortunately we do not have that luxury, and we really need to get to the base as soon as we can. If we keep on stopping, we will run into a lot of danger in this area." Jennie warned.

"Five minutes, I will give you five minutes of time to rest and recuperate yourself. After that, we are proceeding and will not stop until we get there. Any complaints, and you will have to find your way out of here on your own." Jennie said pointedly. She was tired of walking around and just wanted to finally get home.

Jisoo gulped, Jennie could tell that she knew she was being serious.

"Fine. You certainly are a ball of sunshine." Jisoo muttered, Jennie just rolled her eyes and sat down. She couldn't wait for this mission to end and get back to the more important things in her life.

They were stuck in an awkward silence. She didn't want to talk to Jisoo, her irritation of the girl was rising by the minute, and speaking to her would only raise the level of her annoyance.

Jennie felt like this was the longest five minutes of her life. Jisoo was absentmindedly picking up stones and throwing them at a tree nearby. Her face was formed into a scowl and she clearly was not enjoying with what was happening to her.

Jennie didn't really care at this point in time, she knew that the girl was most likely in complete disarray mentally, but it was not her job to make her feel better and explain to her what was happening. Besides, the people back in headquarters had more answers for her than she ever could provide.

Jennie checked her watch, finally, five minutes were up. She stood and made sure she did not leave anything behind.

"Let's go." she said as she started walking. Jisoo got up, sighed and followed her.

Throughout the trek, both girls were silent. The only sound that could be heard between them was Jennie's exasperated sigh every time Jisoo got stuck again.

She observed that Jisoo would only furrow her eyebrows in frustration whenever that happened, but didn't complain. Jennie was fine with that, the more she can concentrate on what they were doing, the better. Besides, she wasn't here to make friends, she was here to do her mission. After this, they would never see each other again.

Finally, the trees were dwindling, and she could make out the exit up ahead.

"We're almost there." She told Jisoo, who just shrugged.

When they were finally out, Jennie quickly checked her watch and clicked something on it. Jisoo promptly sat on the ground and took in a lot of breaths. She looked dead tired but relieved that she could now get some rest.

"Kuma to HQ, we are at the exit. Package is currently in tow, waiting for extraction." she said, speaking into her watch. Jisoo's eyes perked up as she watched Jennie use it as a form of communication.

"I swear to God this is some weird dream." Jennie heard Jisoo mutter to herself. It wasn't a surprise to her, she had already heard a lot of people from different dimensions convince themselves that what was happening was not real.

Knowing which dimension she was from, she was sure that Jisoo would be into more surprises once they got to their location.

She heard her watch crackle as it confirmed that they received her message. A few seconds later, they both heard a low hum. She then saw a blue and white HoverVee stop in front of them. She turned to Jisoo, who was still on the ground, but was now visibly gawking at what was right in front of her.

"Oh my God, is that car _flying_?!" she asked, clearly impressed.

"No, it's just hovering. This gives it more speed and covers more ground, which is especially useful in our line of work." Jennie answered her.

"So this is a Velo...thingy?"

"No, a Velocycle has two wheels and is driven like a bike, only faster. This is a HoverVee. Why am I even explaining this to you?" Jennie said, realizing she was already making small talk and they needed to get back.

Jisoo shrugged once again. Jennie sighed, "Let's get in."

Jennie took shotgun while Jisoo sat at the back. Jennie already knew there was no driver assigned, as the vehicle could be automatically set for self-drive, but it excited Jisoo. She was like a kid looking at all the controls and asking some more questions which Jennie politely obliged. If she wasn't so annoyed at the girl, she would have found her cute.

As they slowly got into the city, Jisoo was so amazed at what she was seeing. She finally saw what a Velocycle was and noted how technologically advanced everything seemed to be. Jennie just silently looked out the window, and let herself get lost in her thoughts.

A few minutes later, they arrived at their destination. They both got out and Jennie could see how floored Jisoo was with everything she was seeing, most especially when she discovered that people could also use magic.

The headquarters was huge, and it boasted a sprawling area where people could mull around or do things intended for their classes or line of work.

Some trainees were outside, practicing their magic techniques, some were just lounging around and others were in a hurry to get to their next location.

"What? You are technologically advanced AND have magic? You have got to be kidding me!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Don't worry, you'll learn more about it later. For now, follow me." Jennie said, walking ahead.

"Is this like, a school for ninjas..or soliders...or whatever you guys are?" Jisoo asked.

"I guess you could say that."

"Wow, so you're like SeeDs in training! It's like in Final Fantasy 8 where Balamb Garden was their school and home in one and the students there were trained to be soldiers to fight the evil sorceress!"

"Uuh...sure." Jennie had no idea what the heck Jisoo was talking about. She looked at her and could see Jisoo's eyes sparkle at everything she was seeing. _She's really like a damn kid._

They headed inside, and Jennie was greeted with salutes from some trainees she passed by, as well as people who were below her rank.

They reached the end of the hallway and Jennie stepped into a small platform, Jisoo following behind.

"This might feel odd at first, but it's nothing to worry about." Jennie informed her.

Jisoo looked at her with a puzzled expression and was about to say something when Jennie pressed a button on her watch and they both disappeared and reappeared on another floor. Jisoo almost stumbled forward from the shock and surprise with what happened. Jennie was able to grip her arm on time and grinned.

"You're a bit sadistic, you know? You could have just explained to me what's going to happen." Jisoo huffed, embarrassed, shaking her arm off from Jennie's hold.

"Well, it's done. Let's go." Jennie told her.

"I hope there's no more surprises after this."

"That's just a tip of the iceberg of surprises, especially considering you're a very high level mark."

"I'm a what?"

"A very important person."

"Who me?" Jisoo laughed nervously. "You're pulling my leg right?"

Jennie just decided to stay silent.

"That can't be right, I'm nobody. Seriously. I could barely pay my rent at times. Well, maybe because I tend to buy a lot of games and chicken...but still! I'm really nobody."

"We'll see about that."

Jennie led her to a room that had a lot of comfortable couches. She gestured for her to sit down, and Jisoo followed. She looked at the girl.

"This is where I take my leave. Somebody will be with you shortly. They will be the ones to help you understand why you are here."

"Wait, you're leaving me alone?"

"Yes. My mission was to simply make sure I got you here safely. No harm will befall you while you're in headquarters."

"Okay...so, uhm...I guess I'll be seeing you again later?"

"No."

"Oh, I see. Want a goodbye hug so you won't miss me too much?"

Jennie rolled her eyes and turned around to leave.

"You know, I never got your name. Unless it's Kuma, which might explain your sunshiny demeanor."

Jennie turned her head back as she was walking and smirked, "It's Jennie." then went out and closed the door.

_Glad that's over with._

She proceeded to walk towards another room in the same floor, meeting and greeting some of her collegues along the way. Once she got to her destination, she opened the door, closed it behind her and did a breast salute.

"Kuma reporting in, General."

Her superior, who was busy with something on his desk looked up and smiled.

"At ease, soldier."

Jennie returned to a normal position.

"The mark has been delivered without any problems, sir. Although, I had a run in with two members of the Legion. One died due to suicide using a form of poison and the other was able to escape. No visible harm was done to the mark."

"Good job, Jennie, as always. I knew you could be counted on for this mission, and I am sorry if I had held you up for too long."

"It's alright, sir. It is part of my job after all."

"Just call me Taeyang. Anyway, your work is done and you're basically off duty after that delivery."

"Uhm..alright si..I mean, Taeyang."

He chuckled.

"Well, since this is the case and you did ask to file for a leave, I have granted your request and this will be effective by tomorrow."

Jennie's face lit up. She gave him a genuine smile and bowed, "Thank you so much, sir!"

 _I can finally go home!_ Jennie told herself, her smile not leaving her face.

"Well then, you are dismissed. Get some rest so you can leave early."

"I definitely will! Thanks again si..I mean, Taeyang!"

He nodded and she went out. She was practically skipping on her way back to her dorm.

Once she had arrived, she took a long shower and made herself some dinner. Afterwards, she decided to finish her report and then began packing for her journey back home.

It was almost midnight when she got ready for bed. She decided not to call her mom and tell her that she was able to go home for a few days. She wanted to surprise her and her sister.

 _Tommorow's going to be a good day!_ she told herself and started to drift off to sleep.

She was woken up with an incessant knocking on her door. She looked at her watch and she saw that it was fifteen minutes after 6 in thep morning.

_Who the hell could be knocking at this hour?!_

Feeling a bit grumpy, she walked towards the door and angrily opened it. "What?!"

A soldier clad in uniform saluted as she did. "Ma'am, I am sorry to bother you this early in the morning, but HQ asked me to come and get you for your next mission."

Jennie furrowed her eyebrows, there must be a mistake.

"I am currently on leave, General Taeyang had already granted it. I am sure this is just a misunderstanding."

"But I was ask---"

"Please let them know I am on leave."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"It was Dragon ma'am who gave me the order."

"Dragon? As in THE Director?"

"Yes ma'am."

_Great. I can just kiss my leave out of the window._


	4. Confusion

**Jisoo's POV**

Jisoo watched as Jennie went out and closed the door behind her.

 _Jennie._ She repeated the name to herself then chuckled at the thought that she looked like a grumpy kitten.

Well, a dangerous grumpy kitten who had apparently saved her life. She forgot to thank her after all the excitement that had happened today.

She was getting nervous again and decided to check her surroundings.

The place she was in looked like a large living room, complete with couches and plants. There was a big coffee table in front of her and the ambiance made you want to sit down and relax.

Jisoo began to wonder if the reason Jennie left her here was because she might become a victim of some sadistic torture schemes for rich people.

She had watched enough Hostel to know where this might lead. She was also still reeling from the fact that the place she was in had flying cars, buildings that moved by themselves, people who could use magic and etc.

Earlier, she saw some people forming ice sculpters, creating flame creatures, using the wind to fly and all that jazz. She swore her brain might short circuit from everything she had witnessed, then reminded herself that she could just be dreaming.

Still, she was getting antsy and was preparing for any surprises, one of which was that a guy with a chainsaw could barge in at any moment, chasing her around the room and laughing maniacally at her predicament.

Finally, the double doors from the other side of the room opened, and there stood a very pretty woman clad in what looked like a soldier's formal attire. She smiled at her as Jisoo stood up, getting ready in case she spewed fire at her or something.

"Hello Kim Jisoo. It is nice to finally meet you. My name is Sandara Park, assistant to our Academy's director. You may just call me Dara as that is what most of my collegues know me as." she said and bowed deeply.

"Uh...it's nice meeting you too." She said, bowing back.

"I understand that you might feel a bit disoriented and confused after your travel here from your sector. Rest assured that all will be explained in due time. The director would like to meet you, but he deemed that having you rest first was more important. I understand that your escort, Miss Kim, can be a bit rough around the edges, but she's the best that we've got. I apologize if she might come off as rude."

"It's fine. She did save my life."

"As I've heard. I am happy Miss Kim was able to protect you well. For now, I will be showing you to your quarters. Please follow me."

Dara turned around and led her out of the room. They both went to that same platform where they disappered and reappered somewhere else, but this time she was ready.

They appeared in a different floor that had a bright and inviting hallway and some doors scattered to the sides. Dara then walked ahead while she followed, till she stopped in front of a door and opened it with her palm. She then went right inside, with Jisoo trailing behind her.

She was mindblown at the size! There was a mini living room and somewhere in the center there was a table and some chairs with food displayed all over it. She realized that she was hungry when she heard her stomach rumble.

The room was bright and warm, and was definitely a bit bigger than the one she had back home. The earthy colors made you want to relax and chill, and somehow it also made her exhaustion dissipate a bit.

Dara turned to her and smiled once again. "This will be your temporary quarters while you're here with us. If you need anything, just press your palm on that white pad over there near the door. There is also one in your room. You will be able to speak with me through it. You will also find some clothes in the closet inside your room should you wish to change. Also, I have asked our kitchen staff to prepare a meal for you as I believe you must be quite hungry from the trek you had together with Miss Kim. May I know if you have any questions?"

Jisoo thought about it.

"I am guessing all of the important questions will be answered tomorrow, even if I wanted to know it now."

Dara chuckled, "That's right. But don't worry, everything will be made clear soon."

"Uhm...can I look around the place?"

"I am sorry but for now, we cannot allow you to go around the Academy. I would suggest resting your body so you will be able to recuperate for tomorrow's activities. You will be able to explore as much as you want later on."

"Does Jennie live around here too?"

"Only trainees have quarters inside the Academy. Miss Kim has her own place outside of here."

"Oh."

"You sound disappointed."

"Well, I realized I wasn't able to thank her for saving my life. She did say we won't see each other again."

Dara's lips tugged into a smile, "Who knows? You might run into her again one of these days, though she is really busy most of the time."

"I do hope so, although she might not be thrilled seeing me again."

"Miss Kim might be a bit cold and impatient, but just give her time. She'll grow on you."

Jisoo smiled back at Dara, "That's good if that's the case."

"Well, do you have anything else on your mind?"

"I guess that's all for now. Thank you for your help Miss Dara."

"Just Dara will do. Anyway, I need to go as I have other matters to take care of, but don't hesitate to call me if you need anything, alright?"

"Will do!"

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good rest!"

"You too!"

Jisoo watched as Dara went out and closed the door. She looked around again, mesmerized.

She then went to the table and sat down to eat. To her delight, it seems that most of the food provided for her was made of chicken!

There were chicken skewers, fried chicken, roasted chicken, grilled chicken, chicken nuggets and so on! She clapped her hands and then she began devouring her food.

After a few minutes, Jisoo had patted her tummy. She was very satisfied. The food was deliciously cooked and she was also provided with her favorite iced coffee milk drink.

She didn't know how they were able to know what type of food she liked, but at this moment she didn't care. She was warm and well-fed, so there was no room to complain.

She then sat in front of the TV and saw a note near the remote. It said: "You can watch Netflix here. To connect to your sector's channel, just say 'Sector 52 Netflix' to the remote and it should take you there."

Jisoo did as instructed and the TV showed her the login screen to the streaming app. She used the remote to provide her account details and she was able to get through.

She watched some movies until she was tired and decided to get ready for bed.

Once she was bathed and changed (thankfully the clothes they had her use fit just right), she went off into dreamland.

**************************************

Jisoo had woken up bright and early. At first, she was quite confused with her surroundings, until she finally remembered where she was.

Well, she had no idea where exactly, but her new friend Dara, had told her that she will be getting the answers that she needs today.

She didn't know if she should feel excited or nervous by the prospect. After all, it's not everyday you get transported into an entirely different world and having people wanting to kill you at the same time.

Life was just no Playstation game, she guessed she could still be dreaming, or perhaps she might have eaten some bad food and started hallucinating. That could be a valid explanation.

Still, she was curious about all the secrecy and what this Academy does. Maybe whatever answer she hears will satisfy her curiosity.

She heard a crackle on the pad system that Dara told her about.

" _Jisoo, are you awake?"_

She cleared her throat.

"Oh hi Dara! Yeah, I just woke up. Good morning by the way."

Dara let out a soft chuckle, " _And good morning to you too! Anyway, I just checked in to let you know that someone will be there to escort you to the Director's office in about 30 minutes, so please get ready."_

"Okay, will do. Do I need to wear anything...formal or whatever?"

" _No need, anything casual should be fine."_

"Alright!"

_"See you in a bit."_

_"_ See ya!"

Dara had ended the call and Jisoo quickly got ready. Thankfully most of the clothes they had for her were more suited for her style.

Once she had finished combing her hair, a knock on the door was heard and she quickly opened it.

A boy clad in a black uniform was there to meet her. He was smiling weirdly at her and she looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Uhm...yes?"

The boy blinked several times, as if suddenly remembering something. He neutralized his expression and did their heart salute.

"G-good morning Ch-I m-mean Miss Kim Jisoo! My name is Bobby and I will be escorting you to Director Dragon's office. May I know if you are ready?"

"Uh...yes I am!"

"Great! Please follow me."

They walked in awkward silence. The soldier named Bobby seemed to want to strike a conversation with her, but seemed to think the better of it.

He lead her to the platform again and this time, she was brought to a grand hallway with one door at the far end.

They entered and Bobby continued to move forward until they found another door and went inside. Jisoo observed that the room was an office and ahead of her was a man with his back turned to them while speaking with somebody.

Bobby then stopped and saluted again, "Excuse me sir, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I have Miss Kim Jisoo here as you requested."

The man turned around and Jisoo saw that he was in an all black suit. She began wondering if the people here ever wore other colors. Maybe it was a rule in the academy? Who knows.

The man smiled warmly at her and she began to feel at ease. Although he looked kinda strict, she still felt safe in his presence.

"Thank you, Bobby. You may go." he said softly.

The person behind the director moved sideways and to her surprise, she saw that it was Jennie.

She noticed that Jennie saw her too, but was just looking at her blankly.

 _She's really anti-social._ Jisoo thought.

The director moved behind his desk and sat down on his chair.

"Please do take a seat Jisoo, and you too as well Jennie."

Jisoo then moved towards the chairs in front of his desk and Jennie did the same. They both sat down simultaneously.

"Before we proceed, I would like to introduce myself to you. In this academy, I am known as Director Dragon. I run this place and I am responsible for everything that goes around here. My real name though is Jiyong Kwon, and I would like that you address me as Jiyong, if that is okay with you Jisoo."

Jisoo noticed Jennie's eyes had perked up, but disappeared quickly.

"Uhmm...yeah. I guess I'm fine with that." Jisoo answered. Jiyong smiled again.

"Good. The reason I also have Jennie here is because I also need her to know who you are, why you are here and the significance of your existence. Once I have briefed you with everything, the both of you will be working closely together."

Jennie seemed less than thrilled by this prospect.

"So to start of, the name of the world you have stumbled into is called Argus. Argus and Earth are two places from different dimensions, and although each world has it's similarities, it can have vast differences as well, like what type of life is on the planet, etc. Argus and Earth are not the only two dimensions in existence. There is a total of 52 of them, and our job is to maintain order on all 52 sectors."

Jisoo nodded, that is definitely some interesting information.

"Now, before I provide you all the shocking details about who you are, I need you to know one thing first."

Jisoo listened closely.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"You, Kim Jisoo, is someone who was born and raised here on Argus and has been, for quite sometime, a member of this academy."


	5. The Avatar of Fim

**Jisoo's POV**

"You, Kim Jisoo, is someone who was born and raised here on Argus and has for quite sometime, been a member of this academy."

_Say what now?!_

Jisoo looked at him in disbelief. He has got to be kidding! There was no way in hell that she was from here, much less a soldier!

Jennie looked as dumbfounded as she was.

"I am sorry for interrupting Director sir, but if Jisoo was in fact part of the academy, wouldn't I remember who she was?"

Jiyong chuckled. He then placed his palm on that device used to contact Dara that was in her room.

"Dara, can you please come in here and bring all the necessary files we need for this briefing?"

 _"Right away, sir!"_ Dara responded.

Jiyong then looked towards Jennie.

"The reason why you don't remember her was because she had already left for Sector 52 when you decided to try out for the Black Label Ops Unit. You were still new here at YG back then."

"I see." Jennie responded, still looking like she didn't believe a word of it.

"Hold up! Waaaait a minute! You must be joking right? I couldn't possibly be the one you're looking for. I mean, I don't remember anything at all from this world! Maybe you've got the wrong Kim Jisoo? Maybe she's my doppelganger from another dimension?"

"I am 100% certain you are the right person we are looking for. We have been monitoring you since your arrival on Earth until your return here."

"B-but...it's not possible! Like I said, I have no memory of my time here. You also said I am a member of this academy. I have two left feet and believe me, I am clumsy as fuck. Jennie can vouch for that."

"I understand it is a lot to take in, but rest assured everything will be explained and made clear to you."

The door opened and Dara had entered the room. She smiled at everyone and proceeded towards Jiyong.

"Aah Dara, there you are. The files please."

"Here you are, sir. Everything you need is inside the Holopad."

Dara had handed Jiyong a round object, which Jiyong put on his desk. He pushed a button and a big hologram screen came up. He then pushed some stuff on the hovering screen, trying to find something.

Jisoo was in awe of it.

"Wooow, I've only seen this stuff on Ironman and some sci-fi movies!"

"Believe me, you will see a lot of things here that you can only dream of on Earth." Dara told her.

"No shit sherlock."

"Language." Jennie told her, kinda giving her a subtle glare that made her look like an angry kitten, which Jisoo found cute instead of scary.

"I understood that reference." Jisoo grinned.

Jennie looked at her with a puzzled expression, "Wha-, nevermind."

It seemed she has given up trying to understand Jisoo.

"I think she meant that one scene on Avengers dear." Dara explained to Jennie.

"Is that a movie?"

"Yes, it's a popular movie in Sector 52. It's quite fun to watch to be honest."

"Oh. Sorry I haven't seen it."

Jisoo could tell she didn't really care if she did or she didn't see the movie.

It seems Jiyong already found what he was looking for. He expanded the screen and showed it to Jisoo.

It was a photo of a team of some academy members in uniform.

"Jisoo, can you please tell me if you see anyone familiar in this photo?"

Jisoo squinted and looked at the faces on the photograph. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw someone familiar.

"I recognize that soldier who escorted me here. Ben...Brad...Bo..oh Bobby! That's right, his name was Bobby." she said.

"That's right. Anyone else?"

She looked harder and that's when she almost had a heart attack.

She saw herself on the photo, albeit a much younger version, and she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh my God..that's...that's me!" she gasped. Jennie also looked up to confirm what she had seen.

"What?! You were a trainee in the Black Label Ops Unit???" Jennie said, shocked.

"That's right. Jisoo was our most talented and skilled warrior. She could have given you a run for your money Jennie." Jiyong informed her.

Jennie scoffed, "As if. She couldn't even win against a leaf stuck on her face the other day."

"Hey! That leaf put up a valiant fight."

"Sure nerd."

"Okay kids, let's keep it down." Dara scolded them playfully, and they both just glared at each other.

"Anyway, just to continue, I will now begin the most complicated part of the story."

Both of them listened in rapt attention.

"Now, everyone here except Jisoo is familiar with the Blood Legion, the prophecy of Ainz and the Avatar of Fim."

Dara and Jennie both nodded.

"Jisoo here is intertwined with all three. To put it simply, and I have confirmed this without a doubt, Jisoo is the Avatar of Fim."

Jennie gasped.

"You're kidding." she said incredulously.

"Unfortunately, I am not."

Jisoo was confused.

"Wait...I'm the Avatar of what now?"

In her mind, she was thinking that they might ask her to master the four elements because the Fire Nation attacked.

That would be cool! Maybe she could try out blood bending or something.

"The Avatar of Fim is basically the person prophesized in the Book of Ainz to be either the savior of the entire multiverse, or be the cause of it's destruction." Jiyong informed her.

Jisoo froze. That sounded pretty deep.

"Whoa! That's...that's a lot of responsibility you're putting on me there! How do you even know you could trust this Ainz guy?"

"All his prophecies have come true." Jennie told her.

"Awesome. So, how the hell do you even know that I am this...this person? I mean guys, seriously, look at me. I can't even get my life together. Maybe that's why there's the destruction part because you picked the wrong Avatar." she said nervously. This was not what she had signed up for! Can she wake up now? She was never drinking that Monster energy drink again.

"Because everything in that prophecy perfectly describes you." Jiyong said sadly.

Jisoo paused for a bit, everyone in the room was looking at her right now.

"Oookaaaay. Alright, let's all calm down. Can you at least read to me the prophecy?"

Jiyong then swapped the photo with what looked like an ebook on the hologram screen.

Jisoo went near, and read it loudly.

"During the first month of the third on the season of Winter, the Avatar of Fim will be born under a Blue Moon."

_First month. Check._   
_Third of the month. Check._   
_Winter. Check._   
_Blue moon. No idea._

"She will be gifted with exceptional skill, with the power to control opposites within her."

_Still no idea what that means._

_"_ Her heart is stout, her kindness vast and true. People easily flock to her, giving them the warmth that some of them lack."

_Maybe true?_

"But even purity can be tainted. A betrayal loses the people most important to her, planting a rage that may be unquenchable."

_Sounds violent._

"But all is not at a loss. The daisy that will be planted in her heart will give her soul the courage to withstand the 7 trials given to her by her shadow."

_What?_

"But if her soul has not been made whole by the time the 7th year ends when the 7 trials were first planted, she will succumb to her darkness, and plunge the multiverse into complete disarray. But if the daisy goes in full bloom before the 7th year ends, the multiverse will remain intact and whole."

Jisoo finished reading. That was a lot to take in, all this talk about trials, multiverses and daisies.

"Alright, so far the only thing I can confirm is that this...avatar, is born on the same day as I am. Everything else is not me."

Jiyong inhaled deeply. He looked at Dara, who nodded at him.

"I can confirm that you were indeed born under the blue moon. Your father and I were very good friends."

Wait. Father? If it's true that she was from here, that means she has a family! She had been an orphan, and longed for the love of a proper family all her life.

"I...I have family?"

"Yes. But...unfortunately your father was betrayed by one of our comrades. He too was part of the Black Label Ops and was investigating a child slavery ring together with Jennie's mom. His name was Seunghyun Kim. He had caught one of the ringleaders, and as an example, he was...along with..."

He inhaled once again.

"Along with your mother and brother, were killed in cold blood."

Jisoo was dumbfounded.

"What?"

"Jennie's mom, Chaerin, was blinded and is now retired."

"Wait, where was I when they...when they were killed?"

"You were a trainee in SM Academy. You had a very important exam during that day. They were all inside your house as they were waiting for you since they were...celebrating your 14th birthday. You were going to catch up after your exam. In fact...it was you who discovered them, and I had shortly arrived after that."

Jisoo was in disbelief. She felt a hint of rage stir within her.

"Can I see them?" she asked quietly. Jiyong once again looked to Dara, who slowly nodded.

He picked out a photo file in the holoscreen and expanded it.

It was a picture of a happy family. She clearly recognized herself. She looked pretty young, probably around 6 or 7 years old. She was being carried by a guy who she guessed was her brother, who was grinning widely at the camera.

Her parents were happily smiling as well, and it felt as if nothing in this world could touch them. She put her hand on the screen, and for some reason, tears fell from her eyes without warning.

Jisoo was not the type to cry, no matter how difficult the situation was, but right now, they just fell so easily.

She felt a lot of pain inside her heart, as well as an anger she couldn't explain. Jiyong was looking at her sadly.

"I am so sorry Jisoo if I had to let out everything on you right now, and I know it is painful, but we are pressed for time."

Jisoo nodded silently as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"The traitor's name was Lee Seungri. He was part of our team, and also used to be a good friend of ours. Unfortunately, we didn't know he was working with the Cartel."

Jennie's mouth was in a thin line and had her fists clenched. Jisoo supposed her mom had suffered greatly due to that bastard's actions.

"Since you were already an orphan, I decided to take you in and had you transferred to YG Academy. You have been with us since you were 14. I have been your substitute parent ever since."

Jisoo didn't know what else to say, so Jiyong decided to proceed.

"When you were 19, you had already began doing special training with the Black Label Ops. You had an on-field exam along with your co-trainees. At first, everything went well. However, without warning, members of the Blood Legion raided the exam area. A lot of soldiers fought bravely, and some trainees died as well. It was just luck that I was nearby so I was able to help. What surprised me was that their leader had joined in the fray. As soon as he saw you, he immediately went for you. I had to move quickly, I was worried you would die. However, it seems he had other ideas. He immediately locked you into a body-bind state, and did the Warlock ritual of placing a curse on you. By the time I had reached him, the curse was fully implanted inside of you, and you were unconcious. Their leader had looked to me and told me that the 7 trials would soon begin, and that a new age was going to be fully awakened. I was unable to shoot him as he made a quick escape. Instead of chasing him, I made sure that you were okay. He had then asked his troops to fall back, as if his goal was to make sure he was going to place that curse on you."

"Once we were back in the academy, I had consulted with our own warlocks about the curse. They all examined you and then they showed me the Book of Ainz. It seems the Legion's leader had planted a complicated one, and according to them and the book, the curse was known as the trial of the 7 Deadly Sins. Apparently, the curse sapped all of your strength, skills and abilities. If no limiter was placed on you, the sins could devour you whole and destroy you psychologically. There was only one way to remove it, and there was a catch as well: the cursed one had to do the 7 trials but this can only begin on the 6th year of it being placed on the individual."

"Now, the trials have 7 keys in total. The first key is to unlock and start the trial and to remove one sin of your choice. This also gives back all the abilities you have lost. However, as each sin is removed, the remaining ones will grow in power, to the point that the cursed one will have a hard time controlling them as time goes by. So picking which sin to remove first and which ones to keep last is going to be a choice you'll have to make. With one exception: Wrath is the only sin you have to remove last. As soon as I found this out, I had a limiter placed on you. This is another proof that you are indeed the Avatar of Fim."

Jisoo inhaled deeply. This was a lot to take in.

"When you woke up, we talked about this in length. I knew members of the Legion as well as Seungri, were after you, and without your old strength, it will be difficult to keep you safe. So, we both decided to send you to Sector 52, where no one would look for you. We have placed a memory blocker and implanted new ones as well. Thus, you have been away from Argus for 6 years. I also had someone tag along with you to make sure you were safe."

"Okay, now everything is making sense." Jennie said.

"Unfortunately, memory implants and blockers can only be cured naturally. You have to make some things trigger so that they can slowly return. This is to ensure that your brain won't get too overwhelmed."

Right now, her brain was getting overwhelmed.

"So that's the reason why Jennie is here with you. She will be accompanying you on your mission to complete the 7 trials. She is the best that we have, and I know you will be in good hands."

Jisoo silently agreed, Jennie could definitely kick ass.

He then looked at the both of them seriously.

"I just need you to follow one rule, and one rule alone. You must not break it at any cost, or risk losing your life."

They both listened to him expectantly.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"You must not fall in love with one another."


	6. More Questions than Answers

**Jennie's POV**

"You must not fall in love with one another."

Both of them became dead silent.

After a few seconds, Jennie started laughing and shaking her head.

"To be honest, I have a new sense of respect for her after hearing everything that had happened, and to think our parents were victims of the same guy and Cartel. But no...I don't think that's a problem; for me anyway. It's definitely by far the easiest, no-brainer objective I can do without any trouble." she said while leaning back casually in her seat.

Jisoo shrugged.

"I don't think someone who seems to have a stick up her ass 24/7 is my type either, so it's not a problem for me too."

Jennie cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Well then, that's great! But there is still a possibility, we all know how unpredictable things can get. If it does happen to either of you, you must not, at any cost, let the other know how you feel. Even if it pains you, even if you feel like dying inside because of it." Jiyong told them seriously.

Jennie sighed, "I'm sorry sir, but why is this important? I don't think that will be a problem because it's so obvious that we are highly incompatible for each other."

"It is because the Book of Ainz mentions this. The guardian and the avatar must not have any romantic relations, or it disturbs the full awakening of the avatar's soul and will definitely cause the ruin of the multiverse."

Jennie nodded.

"I don't remember reading that though in the book."

"That's because you were provided with the incomplete version. There are several things that are unknown to you. Only a few of us have read the full book."

"If that's the case, shouldn't we be provided with all the necessary information since we will be doing this mission?" she said while crossing her arms.

"Some of the information is not necessary at the moment. We don't want to overwhelm you with too much of it. The important thing we need to do right now is to focus on completing the 7 trials."

Jennie understood. She was still kinda miffed though with the fact that her leave had been postponed because of this.

"Alright. But sir, I am really sorry to bring this up, but you know how volatile the situation is at Treysé. I need to make sure my family is safe. Is it possible to have Hanbin do this instead? He is after all, the second best Black Label member. I am certain he can keep Jisoo safe."

"I really wish I could Jennie, believe me. But Jisoo needs to have the best YG soldier at her side. But just to ease your thoughts, I have already sent out our best platoon to Treysé to make sure your family and it's citizens are kept safe."

Jennie wished that he would just send that best platoon with Jisoo instead, but she didn't say anything or she might risk insubordination.

"Okay sir, noted."

"So let's continue. Aside from the fact that you are the best soldier here Jennie, the reason why you are our choice is because we need to have this mission finished as soon as possible. You are aware that the multiverse has cracks due to the activities done by the Blood Legion. At this rate, in a year's time, our world will collapse, and since we are Sector Prime, if we are gone, so will the rest of the dimensions. We need you to complete the trials within a year. That is your time limit."

This was definitely serious. Jennie inhaled deeply.

"Do we have the location of the keys?" she asked.

"Right now, we do know where the first key is located. We also have confirmed where sloth, gluttony and pride are. So far, we are still searching for the the rest. That will be our challenge."

Jennie agreed. She knew they had very little information about that, plus the fact that they had to be careful which sin they were going to get rid off early.

The consequences of making the wrong choices could be devastating.

"Uhm..excuse me? I'm sorry for speaking out of turn, but may I know the reason why it's only Jennie and me? Wouldn't we be able to work faster with a team?" Jisoo asked.

Jiyong smiled, "The reason is to avoid detection from the Blood Legion. Also, the book has stated that you need to find individuals to help you move forward on your mission. Too many of you will definitely cause some attention."

"Why does this sound suspiciously like a DND campaign?" Jisoo said, wrinkling her forhead.

"It definitely does. Unfortunately it's real and we need to make sure that we are able to complete it. The life of the multiverse depends on you."

"Alright sir, can you please send me all the information we need, especially regarding these individuals. They may be the answer to where we can find the keys." Jennie asked.

"I agree, and Dara has already prepared that for you. I can confirm with one of them though, she is a member of the Council of Mages in the College of Magic at Fensalir. I am sure you know her as she is one of the few who has mastered both frost and fire magic."

Jennie groaned. She did know her, and she was not looking forward to meeting her again.

"Aah yes, her. Of course."

"The reason we know it's her is because she is the only one who can reintroduce to Jisoo how to use her own magic. Remember in the prophecy that says she can control opposites within her?"

Jennie nodded.

"Jisoo is also one of the few who can weild frost and fire magic at the same time. Remember, only four people have done so far and she's one of them."

Jennie's mouth fell, that was an almost impossible feat. Controlling one element was hard enough, having two opposites was very difficult to do, or even attempt.

"I can DO magic???" a bewildered Jisoo asked.

"Yes, and you were quite good at it."

"Wow..."

"Okay then, anything else we need to know?" Jennie stated.

"Yes, the first key would be Jisoo's weapons, Frostfyre. The prophecy has stated that in order for the key to work, it must be soaked in the holy waters of Kathmandu until it can be used. We have placed it there and it is just waiting for it's owner to get it back."

"How do we unlock the first trial?"

Jiyong inhaled deeply, "Jisoo must plunge both weapons into her body and say the incantation: Anar'alah, aranal Sin'dorei, followed by the sin she wishes to remove first."

Jennie saw Jisoo's eyes widen.

"I have to...what?"

"I know it sounds mortifying, but rest assured that Jennie will be there to make sure no severe harm befalls upon you."

"Kathmandu is a 3 day walk from here." Jennie stated, smirking at Jisoo.

"Seriously? We're still walking?" Jisoo said.

"We can't use any form of transport as these are registered by the government and can easily be located." Jiyong answered her.

"That's...that's...ugh, what choice do I really have." she says, defeated.

"Jennie, you also have to know that a Jormungdr made a home inside that cave. Please be careful."

Jennie's mouth formed into a thin line. Those things were fast and dangerous, especially since they were highly poisonous and there was no known antidote for that.

"I understand, sir."

Alright. I have filled everyone here with everything you need to know. Does anyone have any questions before we start getting ready?"

They both shook their heads.

"Good. Dara, please escort Jennie outside and give her the necessary files she needs to study. I need to talk with Jisoo alone, if that's okay."

"Noted sir. Come on Jennie, please follow me."

Jennie looked back and saw how nervous Jisoo was. She somehow pitied her, the task she had to bear was quite heavy and life changing. She supposed she could be a little nicer to her when they head off to Kathmandu.

Once outside, Dara handed her a Holopad.

"This has everything you need to know."

"Thank you, Dara." she said while taking it and putting it into her pocket.

"Also Jennie?"

"Hmm?"

"Please take care of Jisoo. I know you don't...know her, but I do. I have watched her grow up here in YG. She's someone who is definitely a light with all the people she has touched, and I trust you to make sure she gets out of this alive. She's like a daughter to me, so please, promise me you will make sure she will be okay in the end."

Jennie was taken aback. She had not expected that at all, she supposed Dara did know her since she had been with YG for a long time now and she was a good friend of her mom. She saw tears glistening in her eyes, and realized this must be quite difficult for her as well as for the director too.

She smiled at her and took both of her hands, "I promise, to the best of my ability, to make sure she gets out of this alive."

Dara embraced her and sobbed, "Thank you, thank you Jennie."

Jennie hugged her back and let her cry. Her heart was softened at how Dara cared so much for the girl.

Dara then let go and gave a small, embarrassed laugh.

"I am sorry, I never should have broken down like that."

"It's alright, I perfectly understand."

"Well then, off you go. You need to study and rest. Please be here at 0600 hours and meet with Jisoo at the science center."

"Got it. I will be there."

They both bid their farewells and Jennie walked towards the platform. She realized how serious this was and she will definitely make sure that everything goes well in the end.

Because if not, that also means her family will suffer too.

**************************************

**3rd Person POV**

It was late at night and Jiyong was drinking his whisky out in the balcony of his office. He was deep in thought and didn't hear someone stand right beside him.

"Do you have anymore of that?" Dara asked with a grin. He turned to her and gave her a rueful smile.

"The bottle is inside if you wish to partake in this."

"Maybe later." she said.

"You know, I sometimes wish it was just me. We both know she did not deserve this path."

"I feel the same, but life is cruel. Let's remember that Jisoo is a strong person, no other individual can fight this like she can."

"I suppose you are right."

Dara furrowed her eyebrows.

"Did we need to not let them know everything? Wouldn't it be more beneficial if they were aware of what they should do?"

Jiyong looked down as he nursed his glass.

"I did give it a lot of thought, I tried to see what the best outcome was, and I am certain that this is the road they must take."

"But you know the effects of what Jisoo did before, she is basically a walking time bomb, and Jennie-"

"I know!" he sighed and closed his eyes, he must not let his emotions get to him.

"I know, Dara. But for it to take effect, it must be 100% real. You know their personalities. We both know more than anyone how they are, and it will only lead to further problems."

Dara looked at him quietly. She sighed once again as she looked at the sky. She knew he was right.

"They grew up too fast, didn't they?"

Jiyong smiled, a memory playing in his head.

"They certainly did. All we can do now, is put our faith in them."

They both continued to look up the sky, each immersed in their own thoughts, hoping against hope that what they did was right.


	7. Preparation

**Jisoo's POV**

The sun had almost risen, but Kim Jisoo had barely gotten any sleep that night. Her thoughts were still busy going through everything she just discovered a few hours ago.

When she really thought about it, everything sounded insane. How was it even possible? The world she was in definitely felt like something out of a fantasy. But everything she had experienced so far seemed real enough.

She also couldn't take her mind off of what she and Jiyong had discussed earlier.

She remembered how tired he seemed when the both of them were left alone, and how serious he was with what he had shared with her.

She thought about it, but she was sure she made the right decision.

Yes, she was scared, she just got heavily bombarded with all these revelations after all, but for some reason, a part of her was calm and she felt sure that this was what she needed to do.

Could it be that her subconcious was reminding her of why she was here? She had lost her memories after all, and it would take some work to get them all back.

She wondered how she was going to be able to pull it off, considering she felt like she was going to be a burden since she didn't have the skills to protect herself.

She sighed. A certain cat-eyed girl came into mind.

She was sure Jennie wasn't too happy that she had to be the one to tag along with her.

She supposed she had no choice, she was the best after all, and had proven herself to be capable enough when she was fighting those two men.

She wondered if she could survive the trek to the place they had to go to. Her lack of sleep would definitely be an issue later on.

Jennie would not be happy when she finds out.

Maybe she could get someone to provide a tumbler of coffee for her on her journey? At the very least, she could stay awake long enough for them to rest at the next checkpoint or something. She could ask Dara.

She didn't have the energy to argue with the tiny cat who had the face of a dumpling. She was sure the girl would not be in the best of moods.

She looked up when she heard something that sounded like an alarm.

It must be time.

" _Jisoo? Are you awake?"_ she heard Dara's voice crackle through the room.

"Uh...yup! I'm awake!" she answers as cheerfully as possible. Dara chuckled.

" _I'm guessing you didn't get any sleep last night."_

Jisoo breathed out heavily.

"Yes, unfortunately. I barely got any rest. My mind was too wired that I wasn't able to close my eyes for too long."

" _That's alright, I was expecting that. No worries, we have something that will help you survive through the day._ "

"Oh? Is it coffee?" she asks excitedly. She badly needed a cup right now.

_"It's something better than coffee. So, why don't you go on ahead and get ready? I'll have someone escort you to the Tech Department when you are done."_

"Sounds like a plan! I'm looking forward to this better than coffee thing you mentioned."

_"You'll love it! I'll see you in a bit!"_

"Alright, see ya later Dara!" she says and heard a click, indicating that their session was over.

She headed to the shower. This was going to be a long day.

As soon as she was done getting ready, she heard a knock on the door. She guessed it might be the person who will be escorting her to their meetup spot.

She quickly got up and opened it, and was once again face to face with that young soldier named Bobby.

She grinned at him.

"Good morning!"

He seemed to stiffen up a bit, but was able to recover quickly and gave her a small smile.

"Good morning, Miss Kim. Are you already done?" he asked her.

"Yes I am! Plus don't be so formal with me, just call me Jisoo."

"O-okay." he answered.

Jisoo went out and closed the door behind her.

"So, let's go?"

"S-sure. Right this way." he says as he turned and walked ahead of her.

Jisoo followed him quietly. She was still feeling tired, but she was also curious about Bobby. She remembered that he was in that group picture with her, so that means he had known her in the past.

She decided to strike up a conversation.

"So Bobby, are all the soliders here this nervous when escorting somebody to a certain location?" she asked, a playful smile tugging on her lips.

"W-what? I -I mean, no! I guess it's because I just woke up not too long ago, Miss Kim. I apologize if I come across as such." he says, obviously a little embarrased by it.

Jisoo chuckled.

"Jisoo, not Miss Kim. It makes me wonder if our conversation back then was always me telling you not to call me Miss Kim."

Bobby stopped on his tracks and turned to look at her, confused.

"Huh?"

"We were teammates back then right? I was just thinking out loud, don't worry too much about it." she tells him.

Bobby's eyes became wider as he heard her say that. He then put his hands on her shoulders and looked at her.

His gesture had taken her by surprise that she wasn't able to react to it right away.

"So wait! You remember me? Chu, you remember me??" Bobby asks her excitedly. There was a sparkle in his eyes as he said that.

_Wait? Chu?_

"Uhmm...honestly no. They had shown me a group photo and you were in it, so of course I figured you knew me. They did explain to me everything that happened, including why I have memory loss."

Bobby let go of her and he looked somewhat disappointed.

"Oh. Uhm...sorry if I was too forward or something." he tells her sadly.

Jisoo patted his back.

"It's okay, I'll remember everything eventually. Were we close friends back then?" she asked him.

"Yeah, and in the same team. I'm sure the other guys would be very happy to see you. It has been awhile." he tells her as he scratched his ear.

"I hope I get to meet them again at some point."

Bobby grinned at her.

"You will."

"I'll look forward to it then."

They both smiled at each other good-naturedly. Jisoo could feel that he was a kind and genuine person. She just wished she could remember everything about her life here.

"Well, we better get going. We don't want to be late. Jennie hates it when people make her wait." he told her as he turned around and resumed their walk towards their destination.

On the way there, Bobby told her all sorts of things she didn't know about the academy. Well, for now anyway.

Apparently, talented kids were trained here at a young age when their families wanted them to be assured of a good life when they become adults. It was not easy to be accepted, as a child had to be able to do at least two of the three requirements for them to enter.

At 7 years old, a kid will be tested if they will become proficient in combat, magic and intelligence. Most children were good at just two, but some gifted kids were able to pass all three with flying colors.

The academy was also generous to orphans. If a child showed promise, they would take them in and shoulder all their expenses until they graduated.

Bobby told her he had been an orphan along with his best friend named Hanbin. They were both very grateful for the opportunity that YG had given to them and grew up having the people here as their family.

Jisoo felt happy for him, she could see how much he loved it here and how genuinely thankful he was for everything.

Finally, Bobby stopped in front of a huge door and put his palm on the panel.

When they opened at his touch, Bobby led her inside a huge room which looked more like a warehouse.

She could see a dozen velocycles and some Hover Cars. There were different machines all around that she couldn't quite recognize. Everything seemed so hi-tech and out of this world.

As they neared the end of the room, Jisoo could see both Dara and Jennie talking to two tall men in white lab coats.

It seems one of them was the head as he was deep in discussion with them while the other just nodded and agreed. His hair was all over the place and he was holding a pen while his hands moved animatedly along his conversation.

Jennie looked up and saw the two of them headed their way. She then informed Dara who turned towards them and gave them a genuine smile.

"Good morning Miss Kim! Bobby, thank you so much for offering to escort her all the way here even if you didn't have a schedule today."

Bobby's face turned beet red as he scratched the back of his head.

"It's all good, Miss Dara." he mumbled.

"Thank you, Bobby." Jisoo added as she smiled at him.

He just smiled back shyly.

"Well, I better get going now. I'll see you around." he says as he waves goodbye to Jisoo who also waved back as well as Dara.

Jennie just looked at him with a neutral expression.

"Okay, let's get back to business then. I am so sorry for the interruption." Dara told the guy with the messy hair who just smiled good-naturedly at them.

"Oh, it's no problem at all Dara! I am so glad to see Jisoo back here again! It has been a long time. I'm Daesung by the way and this other guy is my assistant, Hoony. Hoon, you still remember Jisoo, right?"

The guy named Hoony nodded.

"Who could? She was always hanging around here every chance she got and asked annoying questions." he told them.

Jisoo thought this guy was lucky she didn't have the same skillset as Jennie.

Daesung laughed at him.

"Of course, of course! You were always so curious about technology, even back then. I would've thought you'd join us here but you chose the Black Label Ops instead! Taeyang had won that bet! I had to work overtime because I needed money. A lot of departments had wanted you with them you know." he says fondly.

Dara cleared her throat. Daesung then suddenly stood up taller and chuckled.

"But yes, let's get back to business! I was just telling Jennie and Dara here about the specialized items you will be bringing along with you. But first things first, here, you will be needing this today. I understand you didn't get enough sleep?" Daesung tells her as he handed her something that looked like a small pink gum.

Jisoo took it. It also felt like gum.

"Thanks. Yeah, I wasn't able to rest properly last night." she tells him. He nodded in understanding.

"Perfectly normal, I would be the same if I was in your shoes, or maybe even worse. Hoony tells me I can be a bit neurotic. Well then, eat up! It should make you feel like a new person in a jiffy!" he says. The others looked at her intently. She decided to just pop the gum in her mouth and chewed on it.

Her eyes grew wide as a burst of flavors went through her mouth, all of them her favorites. After a few seconds, the gum melted and disappeared. Suddenly, she didn't feel tired anymore. In fact, it felt like she had the best sleep ever in her life.

"Wow." she whispered.

Daesung grinned.

"It's amazing isn't it? We call that the Blitz Gum since it makes you feel better in a short amount of time. It makes you full for a whole day and you don't get thirsty. A lot of soliders bring these for emergencies. It's not advisable to keep eating it though as it can affect your heart. All good things come with a price after all. But, I will be packing some of these for you guys as well. We never know when you might need one." he says.

"Alright, come along with me now." he tells them as he headed towards a room. Once they got inside, Jisoo noticed that it contained the same suits most of the soldiers here wore. He led them to a glass case with the same uniform but slightly different.

He put his hand on it as he smiled proudly.

"So, this is the new uniform I specifically made for you and Jennie. It's built to withstand stronger physical and magical attacks. In fact, the normal uniforms can take hits by swords, this baby on the other hand, can make axes look like child's play. It's also self washable, which means you can wear it anywhere without it getting smelly or too dirty, and is light and extra comfy to wear. It has hidden pockets for weapons and other items you need. Plus, it's waterproof."

Jennie nodded.

"It sounds practical enough. I wish we had this sooner." she says, as she admired the new uniform.

"It took some time for us to make it as we needed to find the right materials and the exact magical properties for it to work effectively." Hoony told her.

Jennie nodded.

"Hoony is right. It took us _years_ until we we were able to figure it out. So basically, you two will be our live guinea pigs." Daesung says, trying to humor them.

"That sounds a bit worrisome." Jisoo noted.

"She's right. What if it doesn't work and we die a brutal death just because we believed we would be fine?" Jennie added.

Daesung laughed heartily.

"Miss Jennie, always so serious as usual! Of course we have tested it several times so I can guarantee you with my life that you will be fine." Daesung assured her. He then took a small black backpack from the side.

"This will be where you will place most of your gear. I took the liberty to pack all the things you need, including extra civilain clothing if in case you need to go into towns or cities to blend in. Your food and water capsule rations are here, and it should last you for around two months. It also has two tents with heating and comfortable bedding, some area security rods, hygenic materials, holopads, etc. It's also very spacious, durable and waterproof, you could practically fit a house in here." Daesung says proudly.

Jisoo's jaw dropped.

"Wait, all of that inside of that small thing?!"

"Yep, and you can put even more stuff."

"Wow, and wouldn't that be...heavy?" she asked, curious.

"Oh no, not at all! It's as if you're carrying nothing. Here, test it!" Daesung replies as he hands over the bag towards her. Jisoo takes it and gives an appreciative hum.

"This is so cool."

"Indeed! Everything you need is in there."

"As usual, you guys did a superb job." Dara tells them.

"Anything for Jisoo and Jennie, my favorite trainees." he says, grinning from ear to ear.

Jennie looked at him weirdly.

"I didn't know I was your favorite."

"Well now you do."

Dara clapped her hands.

"Alright! Since all the gear you need is fully accounted for, why don't you girls change so I can start briefing you for the mission?" she tells them.

They both mumbled a response as Hoony handed them their uniforms.

"There's a bathroom over there which you can use." he tells them as he points them towards the direction.

Jisoo walked towards it first and entered. But before she could shut the door close, she felt someone tug at it and opened it widely. She looked up and was quite puzzled when she saw Jennie enter and close the door behind her.

"Hey! What the heck are you doing?" Jisoo says crossly.

"Changing?" Jennie responds as she quickly removes her shirt. Jisoo's mouth went dry as she saw the girl's amazing figure. Her abs were practically saying hi to her and she had an hourglass waist.

She was wearing some type of white sports bra which clearly showed her cleavage. Jisoo swallowed hard as she forced herself to look away.

It was a very hard decision, mind you.

"Jennie, you can't just barge in her to change with me. You're practically a stranger!" she complained.

Jennie smirked.

"What? Afraid of a little skin now? Don't sweat it too much sweetie, I'll be out in a bit." she says with an air of arrogance.

_Oh really now? Two can play at that game._

Jisoo shrugged.

"I guess you're right." she says and promptly removed her own shirt.

She smirked in satisfaction as she saw Jennie stop for a bit and checked her out using her eyes only. The girl was the one who was quick to look away this time.

"Show off." she muttered as she continues changing.

"Just trying to be like the person I admire the most."

Jennie rolled her eyes.

"Yeah whatever, I'm done and I'm out of here." she tells her as she quickly gets out of the bathroom.

Jisoo laughed to herself when she realized Jennie hadn't put on any shirt yet.


	8. Choices

**Jennie's POV**

Jennie huffed as she finished changing inside one of the available rooms she found. She was still a little miffed at Jisoo, but decided to ignore it instead. She adjusted her uniform and gave a satisfied smile.

The new uniform felt more lightweight and comfortable than the previous ones she had worn before. She tested it out by doing a flurry of kicks and punches, and hummed as she realized how quicker her movements were.

This was going to be an advantage, especially if the Blood Legion was indeed after Jisoo.

She was still somewhat disappointed that she had to do this mission, but she was slowly starting to accept it as she knew she didn't have a choice. Working as a soldier meant you didn't have a lot of options when it came to deciding things for yourself. Orders given were to be strictly followed, and if one deviated from them, the punishment was severe.

She told herself that maybe they may be able to come across her hometown during their travels and check in with her family, but the possibility of that happening was close to zero. She had already informed her mom about this, who understood her predicament right away. As a former soldier, she was very understanding about the complications that came along with her daughter's job.

Her younger sister though was a different story. She would sometimes sulk if Jennie took too long to get back and see them. This mission was going to be the longest that she had to be away from them, and Jennie wasn't sure how her sister was going to take it. She supposed she could give her a call later before they headed out.

She finalized her outfit by wearing the protective fingerless gloves that was part of her uniform. She adjusted her ponytail and took with her some of the things she had packed inside her backpack and transferred it to the one Daesung gave to her. She then picked up her Bo staff, which could be shortened so she could travel without any hassle, and headed outside.

She saw Daesung, Hoony and Dara waiting for her, and noticed how Jisoo wasn't with them yet.

She put her pack down and checked on her watch for the time. It was already 15 minutes past seven.

Calculating the distance they had to walk towards their destination, she was thinking that the earlier they could get there, the better, especially since she already had first-hand experience dealing with her whiny companion.

That was going to be a challenge in itself, and she knew they had to keep moving to avoid any trouble. She was also aware that the roads going in and out of Kathmandu were full of thieves. Not that she was scared of them, but with Jisoo with her, she needed to be extra careful.

As she continued to make some plans for their travel, her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when she heard Dara gasp, and she even distinctly heard Hoony say "Whoa" to himself.

Daesung grinned and held out both his arms, looking proud.

"Wow! It almost feels like you had never left."

Her eyes scanned the surroundings until it finally landed on Jisoo, who was already in full soldier gear.

Jennie stared at her. If she didn't know any better and was not aware about how helpless Jisoo was, she would definitely think she was one of them. The uniform somehow made her blend in, and it gave the feeling that this girl had been a soldier all her life.

 _Well, she used to be one right? Before everything happened? She still is one technically._ Jennie thought to herself.

Suddenly, she felt a weird tug in her stomach when Jisoo locked eyes with her. She furrowed her eyebrows and calmly looked away.

She didn't know where that feeling came from. Whatever it was, she decided not to make a big deal out of it.

"You still manage to look the part, even after all these years. Though, the only difference right now is that you look slightly older." Dara told Jisoo, sporting a big smile on her face.

Jisoo scratched the back of her head and grinned sheepishly "Well, I hope I can get away pretending to look useful if we happen to run across some enemies."

"Don't worry too much, once you unlock the curse and the first key, your skills should come back to you, as stated in the prophecy. Having you and Jennie together will be too much for them to handle, trust me on that." Daesung assured her.

Jennie still felt doubtful about that, but she guessed the only way to find out was to go there and see it happen.

At least she wouldn't be a burden forever.

Dara inhaled deeply, "Well then, let's proceed with the mission briefing. Everyone, follow me."

She strode ahead, and the rest of them followed.

Dara continued to walk until they got to the door at the far end of the facility. She opened it, and as they went inside, Jennie noticed that the new room looked like a mini theater.

Dara showed to them the available seats. They all filed into the front row and sat down, Jisoo deciding to sit beside Jennie at the last minute.

She gave Jisoo a side-eye glance, then redirected her gaze towards the front where Dara was standing.

She might at least attempt getting along with her, they were going to be travelling together for a year, so might as well try.

Jennie just wasn't used to being friendly to people, especially those that got on her nerves. She knew Jisoo wasn't a bad person, she just found her annoying.

Her attention was taken from her thoughts when she heard Dara clear her throat. The older woman looked at them and gave them a kind smile.

"Jisoo and Jennie, if you may, can you please take out the Holopads I had given to you out of your pack?"

The both of them nodded and took it out. She saw Jisoo observe her actions while she turned on the pad, and the other girl was able to copy her movements and gain success in making her own holopad work.

After seeing that, she guessed that Jisoo may be the type who could adjust well to new technology.

At the very least, that was a plus point for her.

"Thank you so much girls." she said as she turned on her own Holopad.

"I'll just give a quick run down on what we had discussed yesterday with Director Jiyong before we proceed. First, we had revealed to you that Jisoo is 100% the Avatar of Fim and has to go through the trial of the seven deadly sins. Our goal right now is to ensure that we unlock all seven keys within the year before time runs out for all of us."

Dara then showed them a screen with a map of the whole of Argus. There were four dots that were lit up.

"These are the known locations of the sin keys we have found so far. Of course, the first one is the mission you have to do in Kathmandu. Gluttony is confirmed to be found in Ord Dhozza, Sloth in Komkaldhur and Pride in Naxxramas. But just because you guys know the locations of these keys, doesn't mean you have to prioritize them."

"I understand, it's because of what happens when each sin is removed. So the both of us have to be really careful of the choices we make in which sin we take out first and etc." Jennie noted.

Dara nodded.

"That is correct. So you have to strategize for the order of each sin, because it may make or break your mission."

Jennie leaned forward and clasped her hands together.

"We can't choose the sins that are already located for the first key either. We must eradicate the missing ones as soon as possible, so we must choose between lust, envy and greed."

"I agree, and I was about to share the same sentiments as well. Good catch Jennie."

The room went silent, it was clear that everybody was thinking about how to go about this. Which sin should be taken out first? What other sins should be handled next?

Jennie racked her brain about how this should be handled, she had already thought about this last night and barely got any rest. Yet, she still had no answer. This was a very tricky thing to decide on.

She grabbed on to the first thought that came to her.

"I think greed should be the first to go. I believe it's the deadlier out of all the three. The earlier it's taken out, the better for us."

Everyone seemed to agree. Dara was nodding her head and Hoony just gave a non-commital shrug.

"You may have a point there." Daesung murmured.

Jennie was about to say something more when she heard the person beside her cough and clear her throat.

"I disagree." Jisoo spoke up in a clear and strong voice.

Everyone turned to her in surprise, especially Jennie.

"Why do you think so Jisoo?" Dara asked her.

Jennie noticed there was a sudden difference with the way she carried herself, she looked serious and certain about her choice, once again making her feel that there was more to her than meets the eye.

"I have reason to believe envy should be the first sin to go."

Jennie sighed.

"But greed can be a very negative thing to hold on to. It hasn't provided anything positive in this world and has destroyed more than one person because of it. I can imagine the problems that will arise if we will keep it."

Jisoo locked eyes with her, Jennie could see the determination in them that she couldn't help but gulp when she did that.

"Your points are quite valid Jennie. Yes, lust and greed are powerful when left alone, but envy brings more negativity than the two of them. If you think about it, greed and lust can have positive effects in small doses, greed to learn new things and combined with lust, it can be effective, especially since we still have sloth in the running. Plus, I need those if I want to be able to learn quickly and get the remaining sins. It can also negate pride in a way. I also had to think in terms of how each sin can affect the other, and I believe this is a good combination, whereas envy can bring in more issues because of how the sin works." she tells her.

The room became silent once again.

Jennie felt her heart beating rapidly when Jisoo spoke, it was as if she turned into a different person, but not really. She couldn't quite explain it, but here she was.

She immediately made herself stop from thinking too much about it and reverted her focus to the points she gave, and Jennie damn well knew she was right.

She could feel the girl had thought about it a great deal, no wonder she didn't have any sleep.

Well, if Jennie was in her shoes, she would have been the same as well, and would think out every detail. She realized she was not as into it as Jisoo was, and this was due to the fact that she was mad about her leave being postponed.

She felt ashamed and told herself she would do better in the future.

Though she had to admit, she was quite impressed with how Jisoo thoroughly thought out their plan, but she wouldn't say it out loud. She felt that the girl still had a lot to learn.

"I can definitely see the old Jisoo shine out when you fought to drive in your point." Daesung said as he stood up and went to stand beside Dara.

"That boldness and stubborness...it's definitely you." Hoony chimed in. "But I agree with you."

Jisoo just shrugged and smiled at what he said.

"Yes, I believe Jisoo has stated some solid points, and I have to admit, she is right." Dara agreed.

"The same for me. Anything you can add Jennie? The more input we have about this, the better." Daesung asked her.

Jennie looked at all of them, and then Jisoo. Well, there was no point with beating around the bush.

"Well, I mean, it seems she has really thought about this thoroughly, though frankly, if I had more time, I would definitely be able to add in more facts. But I guess I can see what she is trying to say, so I think we can go with that." she finally stated. She saw Hoony give a smirk but she just ignored it.

"Well then, so it has been decided: envy will be the first sin to go." Dara said, as she began to input that information into the Holopad.

"So since we have the first sin crossed out, any suggestions on what should be next?" she asked them.

"If I may, I would also like to suggest that instead of discussing it now, how about me and Jennie pick out which sin we will be taking out next after the first mission?" Jisoo says.

Jennie gave her a weird look.

"Jisoo, it would be beneficial if we had a concrete strategy for this before we start. Knowing which sin to take out next would be an advantage rather than winging it."

"I don't agree, I think it would be better if we did so on the road."

Jennie puffed out her cheeks, she was beginning to get frustrated.

"We need a PLAN. If you're used to half-assing things, well I'm not."

She got even more annoyed when Jisoo gave her a cheeky grin.

"What? What's so funny?" she tells her, annoyed.

"Nothing."

"It's clearly not nothing."

"You won't like it."

"I'm already not liking it."

Jisoo had the audacity to laugh at her. She furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance.

"Hey! Stop that! Just tell me!"

Jisoo did her best to control her laughter, while the others continued to observe them in amusement.

"Alright, alright, fine. It's just that you look like a cute dumpling when you're mad."

She heard Hoony snort out a laugh.

"I look like what?"

"A dumpling! A cute mandu with those cheeks." Jisoo says with a huge grin.

_The audacity of this girl!_

"I do not look like a dumpling!" she tells her angrily, puffing up her cheeks further, making Jisoo laugh even more.

"You just proved my point!"

Jennie blushed, she was both angry and embarrassed. God, how annoying can this girl get?

"I swear I am going to kill you for that!" she tells her.

"Okay, okay, kids, let's pipe it down shall we?" Daesung told them, but it was clear from his expression that he was having fun.

"Jennie and Jisoo, I expect you two to act like adults and soldiers of this Academy. You will be working together, so I better see results instead of bickering." Dara scolded them.

Jennie sat up stiffly. Dara was right, she was acting out of place, and she should remember why she was here in the first place.

"I am sorry Miss Dara, it won't happen again."

"I'm sorry too." Jisoo mumbled.

Dara just gave an exasparated sigh.

"Alright, let's continue. You were saying Jisoo?"

Jisoo looked up.

"Yeah, uhm, the reason why I feel it's better to decide later on which sins to take out is because we don't know how much it truly affects me and how intense. So as a test and a precaution, it is much more beneficial to discuss which ones to remove after that ritual."

Jennie looked at her again, surprised. This was the second time she had made sense so far.

"Hmm...what do you think Jennie?" Dara asked her.

Jennie looked at Jisoo, who seemed to be waiting for her approval.

"Well, if that's the case, she has a point. We can test run it and see how it goes from there. It also gives us time to think about each decision we have to make before acting upon it."

Dara thought about for a bit. When it looked like she had made up her mind, she nodded at them in acknowledgement.

"Okay then, we'll do that instead. The decisions from now on will be made by the both of you, so please cooperate."

"Yes, Miss Dara."  
"Of course, Dara."

Looking satisfied, she continued. She opened a new screen on her Holopad and 10 logos could be seen floating in front of them.

"As we had also stated yesterday, the reason why we didn't add a team to join you on your mission is because the Book of Ainz stated that you will be meeting people in your journey who will be helping you out with finding the seven keys. All of you will be known as the Protectors of Argus. Each of you are connected for a reason and will play a vital role in the future."

"I have configured your watches and Holopads to find the info you need quickly, and the 10 protectors are just one of the many information you can find in there." Daesung added.

Dara continued.

"To find each of them, you will need to analyze the symbol that depicts who they are, or even a marker. The book of Ainz gives a vague clue on who they might be. For example, the monkey symbol you see in there states that:

A thief, but not.  
Tries to live in the shadows but the light inside of them does not bend easily to the darkness.  
They are not what they seem.  
They turn the lock to the next key.

So you have to be on the lookout for them. Study each symbol, so when you meet, you can spot them right away."

Jennie pursed her lips.

"That sounds even more challenging than the keys." Jennie noted.

"True, it is definitely a difficult task, but not to worry, we already found the one who is under the frostfire emblem, and she can assist with everything you need." Dara told them.

Jennie sighed inwardly, she knew that person and was definitely not thrilled at the prospect of meeting her again. But a job was a job so she will need to work around it.

"The symbols are the monkey, fish, tree, bear, rabbit, frostfire, mace, lightning, imp and skull. So any of these emblems you may spot, or have a connection to that person, try and dig deeper. If they fit the description 95% of the time, then go for it, let yourselves be known." Dara says.

She looked at Jisoo and Jennie, who seemed to be immersed in reading each symbol's description.

" So, any questions?"

The both of them answered no.

************************************

It was time to go. Jennie had already contacted her family, and as expected, her sister wasn't very happy with her being gone for a long time. Although she felt sad, Jennie knew she would understand in time. Ella was a bright girl after all.

She looked at Jisoo who was saying her goodbyes to Dara, Daesung and Hoony.

As she was looking at them, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around to see who it was, she saw the grinning face of her good friend and co-Black Label Ops member, Mino.

"Hey squirt!"

"Hey Song, what are you doing here?"

"To say goodbye to my little sis of course! You'll be gone for awhile and I was worried about who's going to take care of your grumpy ass." he teased.

"I can handle myself."

"Not always, but I am fine because I know you'll be in good hands."

"Eh? What does that mean?"

He nodded his head towards Jisoo's direction. "You got her."

"Wait, you know her too?"

"Of course."

"She's family." Lee Hi, another Black Label member, came in.

"Has Jisoo left yet?!" Somi, looking out of breath, suddenly turned up. She was also part of her team.

"Nope, you're just in time!" Hanbin piped in. He was together with Bobby.

"Good, coz I would kill her if she left without saying goodbye." Suhyun stated. She was also with them as well.

"She doesn't remember you yet, sis." Chanhyuk, her brother, reminded her.

'"Oh yeah."

Jennie looked flabbergasted. All of the Black Label Ops team knew Jisoo?

"Wait a minute, you mean to tell me you were all her teammates?" she asked them.

"Yes, that's why we're here squirt." Mino answered.

"Oh look, look, here she comes!" Somi squealed in excitement.

Jennie observed as Jisoo walked towards them.

When she finally neared, she stopped in her tracks and smiled at all of them.

"Hey guys."

"Oh shit, she remembers! Jisooya!" Suhyun shouted as she went near Jisoo and hugged her. The latter just gave a chuckle.

"Actually I still don't, I'm sorry guys. But I remember each of your faces in that photo I have."

"Too bad, but still, it is so damn good to see you back again!" Hanbin told her.

"I really wish I could remember so I could feel how you feel. But for now, just wait for me guys, okay? I'll get there eventually."

All of them regarded one another. It made Jennie feel like an outsider, because she could see the love and respect her teammates had for the girl.

Maybe she really was the real deal, and perhaps, the two of them may get along in the future too.

Mino finally broke the ice.

"Dammit with all this drama! Come on guys, group hug!" he says, and tries to bring in everybody, who fortunately for him, followed suit.

They all hugged Jisoo.

Mino saw Jennie and smirked.

"Come on grumpy, inside. You're in this family too." he says as he pulls her in, even when she was about to protest. They all laughed.

As they let go, Jisoo and Jennie looked at each other. Their teammates were observing the both of them.

"Are you ready?" Jennie asked her.

Jisoo smiled.

"As ready as I'll ever be."


	9. The Power of Frostfyre

**Jisoo's POV**

Jisoo tried to even out her breathing. They had been walking for about five hours now and it didn't seem like they were stopping any time soon. Sweat glistened on her forehead, but her uniform stayed dry. The perks of using advanced technology.

It was already the third day of their travel, and Jisoo was doing her best to keep up with Jennie's pace.

She remembered their first day outside. Jennie had told her before they started their trek that under any circumstances must she complain. The only time she can tell them to stop and rest was when she felt so tired, she couldn't walk anymore.

The girl had explained to her that although she understood that she may not be used to this, they had to make sure to arrive in Kathmandu on schedule. Jennie was also given instructions by Dara to help build up her stamina and her strength on the way there, so her body could absorb the powers that she lost faster.

So the only way to do that was to grit her teeth and do what she needed to do.

Of course, it didn't go without a hitch. Jisoo got easily distracted with her surroundings.

She was able to see animals she had never seen before, new types of flowers and most importantly, trees so huge that it would take you several minutes to go around it. She was so happy to see them since she was an advocate of fighting for trees. In fact, she had a Facebook group called "Trees R Us". She was the only member, but she was confident it would take off in the future.

One time, she had seen a very cute looking creature that looked like a cross between a kitten and a lion. She couldn't help but go near it and gush over it.

Of course, it almost bit her hand off and Jennie had to take care of it.

Apparently, it was one of the most savage carnivores around the area.

Jennie had to scold her and tell her not to go near any creatures she wasn't familiar with if she wanted to live a long and happy life.

So she was careful from that day forward. Well, maybe a little. Her curiosity got the best of her so Jennie had to save her a couple of times until she got so fed up with her.

She wasn't aware that a flower would also attempt to eat her too!

The dumpling had sworn that she was going to tie her up and just drag her along to Kathmandu if it happened once again. She had grumbled once again about not being a babysitter.

So, Jisoo decided to behave herself and started peppering Jennie with questions instead, which also annoyed her to no end.

During their first day at camp, Jisoo discovered that their tents, although small in size, was actually bigger when you got inside of it. Though it still looked like a very cramped studio apartment since you only got one bed and a desk, she was still quite amazed by it. I mean, no tent like that ever existed in the world she came from.

It reminded her of Harry Potter, but those tents had a whole house inside of it. Still, it got her so excited that her companion was very amused about her reaction.

Sadly for Jisoo, her companion had no idea what Harry Potter was. She was confident though that Jennie would most likely fit in Slytherin.

Another cool thing she found was that Jennie also had another tent that acted like an outhouse. That was a relief since Jisoo wasn't ready to pee anywhere in the dark.

Their breakfast, lunch and dinner consisted mostly of capsules that contained all the nutrients you needed for that day. It wasn't too bad, since it made her feel full. But she wondered if she would, at some point in time, miss eating actual food.

Jennie also taught her how to set up the tents, it was pretty easy since you just needed to push a button. She also showed her how to create a safety perimeter in the area that they were resting in. This was to avoid any surprise visitors, like dangerous animals and anybody who was after them.

The perimeter consisted of four small rods that you put at different edge points of your camp. You could pick the distance of each, and once they were buried underground, an invisible fence would protect them. Whoever went near it would receive a minor electric shock, and warn them of intruders.

So far, during their trek, they didn't encounter any members of the Legion, which was a good sign for Jennie. She told Jisoo that it may be possible they were no longer aware of their whereabouts, and that meant more time for them to do what they needed. She says the Academy did their job well to hide their presence from outsiders.

But still, Jisoo couldn't argue about the fact that this was a long and tiring journey, and it was only the beginning. They still had a lot more to go. She wished she could just lie down on the grass and sleep as long as she could, but she knew she didn't have that luxury anymore.

She remembered the words Jiyong told her that night, and how important this was. This gave her the strength to just push forward no matter what. 

As she was thinking, she noticed that Jennie suddenly stopped and held up her hand. She was about to ask what was wrong when Jennie gave her a shushing motion, indicating to her to be quiet.

Jisoo looked around slowly and saw nothing. She wondered what Jennie had noticed, she certainly didn't see anything out of place. But she knew she had to trust Jennie's instincts, she was trained for this after all. 

Suddenly out of nowhere, she heard a knife zing out from the trees and it almost hit her. Jisoo stood frozen as she didn't know where that came from, but Jennie was quick enough to run towards the source, yelling to Jisoo to stay put and to watch her surroundings. 

As Jennie quickly climbed the tree, a creature that looked like a fluffy tabby cat suddenly jumped down and almost scratched her face, but Jennie was fast enough to deflect it and capture the cat by it's tail as she skidded down the tree. 

The cat was howling and trying to get to Jennie. Jisoo honestly pitied the creature, but since she had no idea what it was capable of, she shut her mouth.

"Unhand my companion, intruder!" someone shouted from the top of the trees. Both of them looked up and saw a shadow of a person.

"We were just passing through, and you suddenly greet us with a knife. What reason do I have to let go of your pet if you wish harm on us?" Jennie asked the person.

"That creature you called a "pet" is one of my partners, so let go of him. Also, you're passing through a juncture where you need to pay a toll in order to get through."

Jennie smirked. "I don't see any signs asking us to pay a toll."

'Well lady, since this place is owned by my group, you have to so that you can go in safely. Also, let go of his tail, he doesn't like it. If not, I will be forced to show you what I am capable of." the person warned.

Jennie gave a small laugh. "Well then, I would like to see you try. Your pet doesn't seem to be very happy with his predicament."

Jisoo agreed. The creature that looked like a cat was still howling and mewing at Jennie angrily.

"I warned you, lady. Feel the power of my-" the person who was about to jump down the tree suddenly slipped and fell down to the ground. 

Jisoo felt her pride was hurt more than the fall though.

"Geez, ow, ow, ow, that hurt!" the person said, then they seemed to have suddenly remembered where they were and quickly stood up, brandishing a dagger. 

Jisoo saw that the person wishing them harm was actually a girl with a very slim build but was quite tall. Taller than her and Jennie. She had sleek black hair that fell to her shoulders, and brown eyes that seemed to have a mischievous glint in them. She had goggles being used like a headband on her hair, and she was clad in a sleveless white shirt that was wrapped around a brown cloak. She also had matching brown pants and black boots. Jisoo swore she looked like a typical character out of an MMORPG game.

"Let go of Luca intruder, and I will promise to give you guys a quick death!"

Jennie did let go of the cat, which ran away, looked back at her and hissed menacingly. She folded her arms, as if amused with what was about to happen.

"Okay, now do your worst." Jennie egged her on.

The girl looked at the both of them and something suddenly dawned on her face.

"Wait, you're soldiers?!"

Jennie shrugged.

"Shit, shit." the girl whispered to herself, then she made some sort of hand sign, and smoke suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Another cat, which was mostly white and had some stripes of gray came out of there. The creature seemed to look at the girl with annoyance.

"Leo, it's your time to shine! Show them your ferocity and what we can do as a tandem!" the girl shouted at him excitedly while pointing at the two of them.

Jisoo swore if Leo the cat was a person, he would have rolled his eyes at her.

The cat just turned away, sat down, and started licking his paw.

"Leo! Come on baby, you can do it!" she says, trying to encourage him. It seemed like the cat didn't care and continued what he was doing. Jisoo almost wanted to laugh at the sight.

The girl sighed in frustration and shook her head.

"Leo, come on. We need to show them that we can kick butt even if they are soldiers!"

"It seems you're cat has better sense than you." Jennie told her, amused.

The girl blew a strand of hair away from her face.

"You're lucky that he isn't feeling well today and he just ate." she grumbled.

The girl then looked left and right, and finally whistled. The first cat named Luca came to her, and the girl did another hand sign, which made Leo the cat disappear. 

"Come on Luca, we will live to fight another day! You will rue the day you crossed paths with me!" the girl shouted. The cat suddenly grew in size until it was as big as a tiger. The girl then rode on it and whistled which made the cat move towards another section of the forest. She turned around and grinned back at them as they disappeared into the trees.

Jennie shook her head and looked at her.

"That was a thief, although a very noisy and clumsy one at that. We should be more careful from now on, she may have alerted her companions to our presence and I really don't want any trouble. Anyway, we are close to Kathmandu, so just be wary of any danger you might hear or see."

Jennie realized that Jisoo was barely listening to her.

"The cat just grew in size like that! That is sooo cool!" she gushed. Then she looked at Jennie.

"Why don't we have creatures like that to help us across?" she asked her.

"Having a companion is a lifetime commitment. You just don't get one just because, it has to be a pact made between the both of you. Plus each one has a different skillset. It looked like the first one wasn't made to fight." Jennie explained.

"So that means the pet, I mean companion you get doesn't necessarily grow like that so you can ride on it?"

"Yes."

Jisoo pouted.

"That's too bad."

"Anyway let's start moving, it's too dangerous if we dawdle around here too long." Jennie told her. So they began moving forward.

"We're getting close, so don't worry to much. After this, we can rest for a bit before we head off to our next destination."

Jisoo exhaled and smiled happily, "Oh, thank God!"

**A few minutes later**

Jennie stopped once again and Jisoo looked ahead of her warily.

"Is something the matter?" she asked.

Jennie smiled, "We're here. That's Kathmandu." she says, pointing at what looked like to be the mouth of a cave.

Jisoo looked at it in surprise.

"I thought I would see an ancient temple of some sort."

"It is a temple, but it's in a cave. Unfortunately, not a lot of people use it anymore. This was mainly used by pilgrims and elves."

Jisoo snapped her head back at her so fast, she swore she would have broken it.

"Elves? Like elves elves?"

"Yes, elves."

Jisoo opened up her mouth in shock.

"Oh. My. God. Elves are really pretty!"

"And petty beings."

"Well...they're elves. But still...wow." she says, still in awe.

Jennie shook her head and moved ahead.

"Let's go. Who knows you might meet one if we come out of here alive."

"You're joking right?"

Jennie looked at her seriously.

"Not in the slightest. A Jormungadr lives inside of here. That's a really big snake with a very nasty poison. One bite, and you're sure to be dead."

Jisoo opened and closed her mouth, not knowing what to say about that.

Jennie smirked.

"Don't worry, I know how to deal with one. We just need to smoke out the cave in order for it to fall asleep long enough for us to do what we need to do. There's no point in facing it and trying to kill it, it's too risky, especially if you're with me."

Jisoo felt safer with that fact. 

Jennie then placed her pack on the ground and took out what looked like to be two small black pellets.

She looked at the cave. 

"This should be enough." she says as she moves forward and throws the pellets inside.

Nothing happened.

"Alright, let's go."

"But...but there's no smoke coming out!" Jisoo argued. She wasn't going in there with a dangerous snake on the loose!

"It's fine. The smoke is invisible, so we can't see it, but the snake will. We're pretty safe from it."

"If it's invisible, how would you know it's working?"

Jennie sighed.

"The pellets shrink in size until they disappear. See? You can't almost see it anymore." she says, pointing at them.

She was right, she could barely see them already.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine. Let's get this over with." Jennie says as she went inside.

Jisoo followed quickly, she was going to have to trust Jennie.

As they went in, Jisoo could only see total darkness, she couldn't see her hand or foot ahead of her, and she didn't know where Jennie was. 

Without warning, she heard Jennie snap her fingers and suddenly, Jisoo saw a spark of fire light up in her hands. The girl then directed it at something nearby, and as the flame flew towards that direction, it hit something, and suddenly, the whole place lit up like a Christmas tree.

As Jisoo looked around, she realized that the walls were made out of gold. A lot of statues of creatures surrounded the sides, which were in different states of disarray, and a small path could be seen to show the way to their destination. 

She was in awe.

"Wow, this place is so grand!"

"It is."

"And you can do magic!"

Jennie shrugged.

"Of course. Not all soldiers can, but I was fortunate to be able to."

Jisoo recalled the things that Bobby had told her about the proficiency tests kids needed to pass in order to get into YG.

"So that means you got magic and combat in check."

"Intelligence too."

"Wow, all three."

"Yup. All of us in the Black Label Ops need to have those three skills passed. You wouldn't be in that unit if two was your threshold."

Jisoo nodded, she supposed that made sense since they were a special unit. So that means she also passed all three too!

"I guess I am in your league then." she tells Jennie as she wiggled her eyebrows.

Jennie rolled her eyes, "We'll see about that."

As they moved forward, Jisoo observed her surroundings. It really was like a temple, but it was already old and decrepit. It looked like years had passed since the last time someone had stepped foot in this place.

As they continued to moved forward, she heard the sound of the trickling of water, but barely. As she did, Jennie's pace became quicker, and she did her best to catch up with her.

"We're almost there!" she says excitedly.

Jisoo felt the same excitement, but at the same time, apprehension as well. She didn't know what to expect from there. 

As they neared their destination, the sound of water became a little bit more louder. Finally, they arrived in an area of what looked like to be a small lake with a waterfall flowing from outside one of the walls. In the middle of the water where the waterfall fell, Jisoo could faintly make out the image of two swords.

She was about to move forward when suddenly, she tripped on something. She fell face first into what felt like a leathery substance that made her instantly get up from her fall. As she tried to see what it was, her eyes grew bigger at the sight. Once she got to the end, she couldn't help but gasp at what she was seeing.

There in front of her was a, very large, very fat snake lying fast asleep near the water, and what she had tripped on looked like to be it's snake skin.

"S-shit! J-Jormungadr?" she stuttered. It was even bigger than she expected.

"Yeah, it is. Nasty piece of work that one. Don't worry, it won't be disturbing us anytime soon. The pellets should completely knock it out for a couple of hours." Jennie told her dismissively. She then reached out again for her pack and this time took out her Holopad. 

She pushed some buttons and reviewed about what they needed to do.

"Well, apparently this is the part where it gets exciting. Remember what Jiyong said that you needed to plunge the swords into your body?"

Jisoo's face went pale. She almost forgot about that.

"Yeah, and uh-I had to say some sort of incantation after."

"That's right. It's actually in Elvish. Repeat after me: Anar'alah, aranal Sin'dorei."

"Anar'alah, aranal Sin'dorei."

"Once more."

"Anar'alah, aranal Sin'dorei."

"Alright good, repeat it until you have memorized it in your head."

Jisoo did as she was told. She repeated the phrase a couple more times until she was sure she could say those words in her sleep.

"I'm fine now." she told Jennie.

"Alright, good. So the next part here is...you need to say the sin that you want to be removed first after the incantation. So basically it's Anar'alah, aranal Sin'dorei Envy. After that, you will absorb all the powers that you lost once again."

Jisoo grimaced, "Sounds easy enough."

Jennie slapped her back, "Don't worry, I'm here so you won't die of blood loss. Well, maybe. Who knows? I'm no healer." she says, grinning.

"I bet you would be happy if that happened." Jisoo grumbled.

Jennie chuckled, "To be honest I wouldn't be, even though that's minus a burden for me. I still want to keep my job you know." she says as she looked at the lake.

"It looks shallow enough to wade through so, would you like to do the honors miss Avatar of Fim?" Jennie says, looking at her.

Jisoo exhaled a deep breath. This was it. After this, it was going to be official. There was no turning back now.

"Alright, let's go." she says as she tried to put on a brave front while her feet touched the water.

They waded towards the center, and as soon as they neared the the shrine, the weapons started to emanate a purplish hue.

The glow got stronger as they shortened the distance, and for some odd reason as it did, Jisoo felt such an affinity to the items. It was as if she was saying hi to an old friend.

Finally, Jennie and her were in front of it. Jennie whistled as she saw the two weapons. They were two short swords with a black hilt.

She looked at her and the cat-eyed girl nodded at her when she sensed her nervousness. 

Jisoo exhaled one more time and finally grabbed a hold of the weapons.

As soon as she took hold of them, they both felt so familiar in her hands. It was like the weapons were finally coming home to it's owner.

She removed each sword from their scabbard, and she could see some runes written on both weapons. Jennie smiled as she admired them.

She touched one of them. 

"These are fire and frost runes." Jennie whispered in awe. 

Jisoo also looked at the swords. Who would have thought that one day she would be wielding weapons? Not her geeky ass, no.

Jennie then smiled softly at her, somehow it made her feel at ease.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"As ready as I will ever be."

Jisoo readied herself and took in some short breaths. This was going to hurt like hell.

"Don't worry, I'm just here, and I won't leave your side." Jennie assured her.

She looked into those eyes and Jisoo knew she meant it, despite all her complaints and ministrations, she just knew somehow this girl would see this through with her till the end. 

She was about to do it when suddenly, she heard a hiss coming from behind them. They looked back and Jisoo's eyes went wide.

The Jormungadr was awake.

"I thought it would still be hours before it awakens?" Jisoo hissed.

"I thought so too but apparently I miscalculated. This damn thing is too huge. I should have used more pellets!" Jennie shot back. The snake looked at them menacingly.

Jisoo didn't know what to do, she hated it, she hated feeling so useless!

"Stay here and don't do anything! I'll have to go ahead and kill it." Jennie told her.

"B-but-"

Jennie had already moved before she could say anything, and the Jormungadr immediately went after her. She ran towards another direction inside the cave.

Shit what was she going to do? She could tell deep in her bones that Jennie feared that creature. She didn't look like it, but she was certain she was. Also, one bite meant her death.

Why couldn't she do anything? She must do something.

Suddenly, she saw her two swords glow even stronger, then she felt calmer. 

She knew what to do.

If it was indeed true that her abilities would be returned to her once she did the ritual, she can help Jennie.

She took a deep breath and immediately plunged the swords into her body. The searing pain shot through every part of her being and she felt she was going to faint from it.

She gritted her teeth, she needed to stay awake for Jennie.

"A-Anar'alah, aranal Sin'dorei...Envy." she stuttered.

As soon as she did that, a mass of black suddenly escaped from her body that she couldn't help but scream from the pain.

If plunging her body with her swords hurt, this was even more excruciating.

As soon as it ended, she involuntarily knelt on the floor of the shrine, feeling weak from what had happened. 

She was about to faint, but she tried fight it. She then saw the sword glow even brighter, the light transferring to every part of her body. 

As soon as it finished, she couldn't take it anymore. Everything around her suddenly became pitch black.

**Jennie's POV**

Jennie ran through the hallways of the cave, the huge snake on her heels. 

She didn't want to fight this creature, the space was too small to move around and it was highly dangerous. But she didn't have any choice, she had to kill it or else it was going to kill her and Jisoo. Jisoo needed to survive because she was important. 

Even she knew that.

The snake was fast and ferocious, she had to pick her battles with this. She removed her bo staff from her back and faced it as soon as she got to a place with a lot more space.

The snake didn't wait, it lunged at her and she was able to escape, but barely.

She then saw a tiny hole where she thought she could fit through and ran towards it.

The snake relentlessly tried to get inside and all Jennie could do was poke at it with her staff.

Suddenly, the small hole shook and it's rooftop got destroyed. Jennie was able to roll away into a safe place.

That was a damn strong Jormungadr.

She tried to face it, every time the snake tried to lunge at her she hit it with her staff. It wasn't doing much damage. She concentrated a bit and her staff lit up with her flame power. 

She knew her staff alone wasn't going to do much of anything. 

As soon as she touched the flame tipped weapon on the snake's body, it started to scream and thrash in agony.

Jennie smirked, she was going to kill this bastard.

She then moved towards the offensive, attacking the snake at every corner, and the creature got angrier and angrier.

She knew she had to finish it soon.

Jennie was about to plunge her weapon into the creature's brain when suddenly, it used it's tail to swipe at her legs and she toppled down. 

She moved to get up, but she realized that her foot became stuck in a crevice.

She tried her best to dislodge it, but to no avail. The snake looked into her eyes, she struggled, but it was of no use.

She was of no use. She was going to die, and so was Jisoo.

She didn't fight hard enough. She didn't try hard enough. She didn't do enough.

What was the use of a weak soldier?

As the snake started to lunge, and Jennie readied herself for the final blow, the creature suddenly froze in mid-air.

The snake hissed angrily and Jennie could see that it was surrounded by a blue light.

Frost magic?

Then she saw a shadow jump up towards the snake's neck, and cut it clean in half.

As soon as the snake's head was cut off, it's lower body slumped down into the ground.

Jennie was shocked. Who was that?

When she finally got a clear view of the person, she was surprised to see that it was Jisoo, her uniform was bloody, and she had a blank expression on her face. She was holding the two swords tightly in each hand, one of them dripping with the green blood of the creature.

She then realized what she had done. Jisoo had done the ritual.

The two of them stood face to face, and Jennie didn't know what to say.

Jisoo had risked her life in order to save her.

The girl still had that blank look, as if she wasn't really seeing her. Suddenly, her body swayed, and she took one last look at her.

"Jen-nie..."

Finally, the girl fell to the floor, and Jisoo didn't move a muscle.


	10. Memories

_Jisoo, come here, I'll teach you how to punch someone properly."_

_She looked back at the person, crossed her arms and pouted._

_"No."_

_The person she was talking to chuckled and moved towards her direction, then sat down in front of her._

_"You're still mad at me?"_

_"I don't want to talk to you, Jin oppa."_

_He laughed and ruffled her hair, Jisoo shaking her head so he would stop, then she glared at him._

_"Oh, wow, for a five year old, you sure are scary."_

_Jisoo glared at him once again, and turned her back towards him._

_"Go away."_

_Jin looked at her thoughtfully._

_"Oh, so you want me to go away and never return?"_

_Jisoo didn't answer._

_He sighed dramatically, "Hmm...well, since you're not answering, I guess you really don't want me here anymore. I'll go ahead and leave now." he says, slowly getting up._

_Jisoo's expression changed from worry to anger and back to worry again._

_Jin walked away slowly._

_"Bye Jisooya, I will miss you."_

_Jisoo turned around to face him again and got up from her seat._

_"Stop, Jin oppa!"_

_He froze, then he turned to face her._

_"But you didn't want to talk to me."_

_"I didn't say that I wanted you to leave."_

_Jin put his finger on his chin._

_"But you told me to go away."_

_"I was only joking!"_

_"I dunno..."_

_Jisoo's lower lip trembled._

_"I didn't tell you to go go!" then she started crying. Jin laughed and walked towards her, then scooped her up in her arms._

_"Hey, hey, I was only kidding. Now why would I leave my baby sister forever, huh? Imagine me thinking about how many times you ask Mom and Dad where I am, and then crying because you miss me. I wouldn't be able to train properly!"_

_Jisoo sniffled and glared at him again, "It's because you take too long to get back."_

_He smiled at her then bopped her nose, "It's because I need to train. Remember that I wanted to be an amazing soldier like our parents?"_

_She nodded._

_"That's why I can't return right away, but I do my best to visit you as much as I can. Besides, you also wanted to enter the academy too, right? So, while I'm gone, you have to practice so you will pass and you don't have to keep missing me."_

_"I practice everyday!" she says proudly._

_"Then I guess I have nothing to worry about." he says and winks at her. "Oof, you are getting heavier each time I visit."_

_He then puts Jisoo down, then kneels down in front of her and wipes away her tears._

_"My sister is such a crybaby. A soldier needs to be tough, so another thing you need to practice on is to try not to keep on crying whenever you miss me, because I will always return, okay?"_

_"But I can't help it."_

_Jin grins at her, "I know. But remember, I'll always be here, alright? I'm your big brother, so it is my job to protect you."_

_She looks at him thoughtfully, "Okay, oppa. But someday, I will be the one to protect you, and mom, and dad, and the animals, and the trees too!"_

_He laughed heartily at what she said, "The trees?"_

_"Yes, the trees!"_

_"Okay, but you need to beat me first."_

_She pouts then gave him a determined look, "I will beat you someday so you don't need to keep protecting me."_

_"Alright, alright, I hear you."_

_Jisoo then ran to the middle of the grassy field behind their house._

_"Come on Jin oppa, let's play!" she shouts excitedly._

_Jin put a hand on his hip as he observed her baby sister, happily chasing after a butterfly._

_"On my way, kiddo!" he tells her then runs towards her._

_Jisoo stopped to watch him, then suddenly, she noticed something peculiar. At first, it was too far away, she could barely see it. But then, it moved faster and faster towards them. The whole area behind Jin was being swallowed in darkness. She shouted at him, warning him about what was happening, but no words came out of her mouth._

_Jin was still running towards her, grinning, oblivious to everything that was happening behind him. Jisoo continued to shout, to tell Jin to hurry and look behind him, but still, no matter how hard she tried, her voice wasn't working._

_She ran toward him instead, maybe she could save him, maybe she could still reach him in time, but nothing was happening. It was as if she was running in place, and she watched in horror as the darkness finally swallowed him, and then her._

_As she was blanketed in darkness, she saw Jin ahead of her, lying motionless on the ground. She immediately ran towards him, her height growing as she neared him. When she finally reached him, she was twelve again. She squat on the ground and put his head on her lap._

_"Jin, Jin oppa! Please wake up, please!" she says, sobbing._

_He slowly opened his eyes, and saw her crying. She realized that his face had turned bloody, and he was also bleeding from his stomach._

_He smiled weakly at her._

_"Jisooya, what did I say about crying?"_

_"Oppa, I'll get you out of here! Please stay awake! I'll look for mom and dad so they can help you!" she tells him helplessly._

_He held her arm and shook his head._

_"It's okay, Jisoo, I'm okay."_

_'But-"_

_"Jisoo, remember when I said that a soldier has to be tough? You need to be strong for me okay? Be strong for mom and dad. Be strong for yourself. I will not always be there for you, but I promise to stay here." he tells her as he points at her heart._

_"If you feel that you're weak, if you can't go on, or things are too painful, remember, I'm always here."_

_"Oppa..."_

_He then coughs violently, blood spurting from his mouth._

_She cried even harder, she didn't know what to do, she had to save him!_

_"Jisoo, I am so proud of you. I know there are things that you can't do something about, but with the things you can, don't ever give up on them okay?"_

_"I am not giving up on you!"_

_He grinned at her._

_"I know you haven't. But since I am not there to protect you, you have to do it for yourself, and for Jennie too. The both of you have to be there for each other."_

_Jennie? Who was Jennie?_

_"Yes Jennie, she is waiting for you."_

_She looks around her, there was nothing but complete darkness._

_Suddenly, Jin disappeared from her lap and stood up in front of her, still looking bloody and weak. But his face was full of life._

_She stands up to face him, and was now transformed back to her twenty-four year old self._

_"Go back to her Jisoo, and remember, remember who you are."_

_"To Jennie?"_

_"To Jennie. You have been here long enough."_

_Jennie._

_He smiled serenely at her, and somehow she understood._

_She hugged him tightly and he hugged her back._

_"I'm sorry I wasn't able to protect you, Jin oppa."_

_"It wasn't your fault. I love you kiddo."_

_"I love you too."_

_Then everything went black again._

Jisoo woke up with a start.

 _*****************************_ *******

**Jisoo's POV**

She was breathing heavily, then she grimaced as she slowly felt a pressure building up in her head.

God, it felt like her brain was going to be split in half!

She opened her eyes again and looked around her, she was back in her tent, and there was a faint glow of the lamp on the desk beside her.

_What happened?_

She then realized that she didn't have the upper part of her uniform on, and as she looked down, she saw that her torso was bandaged heavily.

Then, it suddenly dawned on her.

She had done the ritual.

But wait, where was Jennie?!

She was about to step down from her bed to look for her when suddenly, she noticed someone sleeping on the floor beside her. 

She quickly realized who it was.

"Jennie..."

She was okay, and Jisoo was able to breathe easier. She had most likely killed the Jormungandr while she was out of it, then felt a bit shitty because she wasn't able to help her. 

Jennie had to take care of her once again.

She stared at her, even in her sleep she was still frowning, she must be that much of a burden.

"I'm sorry." she told her. 

She closed her eyes as the pain surged through her brain once again, and groaned as she tried to ride it out. 

She felt the girl stir from her sleep and slowly wake up.

"Jisoo?"

She opened one eye and saw Jennie stand up. Jisoo was still grimacing from her headache, well if you call it that. It felt more like something was crushing her brain. 

"You're awake! Wait, are you okay?" she asks worriedly as she looks at her expression.

"I think? My head just feels like it's being crushed or something." she tells her. Her voice sounded hoarse and weak, as if she hadn't spoken in ages.

"Let me look at you." she tells her as she cups her head gently and checks her eyes.

Jisoo swallowed as Jennie's face came closer to hers. 

She had to admit, she was really pretty.

When Jennie looked like she was satisfied, she finally let go of her.

"It doesn't look like it's anything serious. Your eyes look clear and strong."

"It could be the after effects of the ritual. I remember something black coming out of the wounds when I stabbed myself, like some sort of smoke, but thicker, and that experience was much more painful than this. More painful than anything I have ever experienced to be honest."

Jennie sat down beside her.

"That was a pretty stupid thing to do. What if you just fainted and stayed there? You would have bled to death."

"I'm sorry." Jisoo mumbled. Yeah, she knew, she was useless and had made a very stupid decision.

"But...thank you."

_What?_

Jisoo looked at her.

"Huh? Thank you?"

"Yes, for saving my life."

Jisoo looked at her, and she had a very confused expression on her face.

"How does me fainting and bleeding almost to death help save your life?"

Jennie had a puzzled expression on her face.

"Wait, you don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

Jennie looked at her and sighed. Jisoo had no idea what was happening.

"Well, you were the one who killed the Jormungandr and cut it's head in half while my foot was stuck and I couldn't get out."

"I did...what?"

"You saved my life." she said once again.

Jisoo had her mouth wide open. She couldn't believe it, it wasn't possible. She didn't know anything about killing a giant snake! Her head seemed to hurt more from thinking about it.

"I-that's not...how...I was out of it!" she sputtered. 

Jennie had a smile on her face.

"Well, I don't know what happened either. It could have just been an automatic response from your body, but yeah, you did. You were even able to use magic."

"I was? God, why couldn't I remember that!"

Jennie gave a small laugh, and held her hand.

"The important thing is, you were able to do something, and I will be forever grateful for that."

They looked into each other's eyes, Jisoo could feel that she meant what she said. Her heart began to beat rapidly as she continued to stare at her. 

Why did she have to be so pretty?

_Jisoo, get your head out of the gutter!_

She cleared her throat, and turned away quickly, Jennie doing the same thing. 

"Uh...yeah, no problem. Though I wish I could have remembered that."

"It's fine."

Jisoo closed her eyes again as another wave of pain shot through her head.

"Jesus, if that snake wasn't able to finish me off, maybe this headache will." she says through gritted teeth.

Jennie regarded her thoughtfully.

"Wait, were you able to remember something?" she asked her.

Jisoo nodded.

"Yeah, I was able to remember who my brother was. I remembered everything about him and had a dream about him. I was five I guess, and I think he was fifteen at that time." she tells her, and opened her eyes.

"He was also a soldier, and had big dreams. He was the one who taught me all the techniques I needed to know at a young age. I remember how proud he was of me and how he always told me I was such a crybaby." 

Jisoo laughed at that memory. Then she smiled sadly.

"When my family died, I just remember that it was the last time I had cried. Nothing else came after that." 

Jennie squeezed her hand.

"Come here and put your head on my lap."

"Huh?"

"Just do it. Come on."

Jisoo did as she was told. As she did, she was able to get a whiff of her scent, a mix of vanilla and freshly cut grass. 

She looked up at Jennie, who put her hands on her temple and started massaging her head.

"Do you know that you have been asleep for three days?"

Jisoo opened her mouth in surprise.

"Three days???"

"Yes, I was getting worried. But thankfully, you finally woke up."

Jisoo couldn't imagine what would have happened if Jennie had been the one asleep for three days.

"Wow, that must have been rough."

"It was. I had to contact HQ and tell them what had happened. They were quite supportive and were confident that you would wake up soon."

"I'm glad they were there for you."

"Yeah, me too."

Jisoo felt her eyes getting heavier and her headache slowly disappearing as Jennie continued the massage.

"This is nice." she murmured.

"That's good."

"I'm sorry for worrying you."

"Don't be."

"I still am."

"Okay, if it makes you feel better."

Jisoo smiled, and slowly went back to sleep.

************************************

She woke up again, and this time, Jennie wasn't sleeping on the floor beside her. The lamp was also off, meaning that it was daylight outside. 

She still felt a little sore, but the good thing was her headache had disappeared. Whatever Jennie did, it definitely helped.

She slowly got up, she now had a tank top on. She guessed Jennie had dressed her up with it, then she realized something.

_Wait, Jennie took off my top. She saw me naked?_

A blush crept up on her face as the thought dawned on her. She then shook her head, she shouldn't be thinking about these things. 

She turned around to find her boots. When she did, she wore it and went outside to find her.

It didn't take too long. She saw her up ahead, training with her staff in order to stay sharp.

Jennie had her ponytail on, and she wore something like a sports bra, which showed off her toned abs. 

Her sweat glistened in the sun and Jisoo swore that was the sexiest thing she had ever seen in her life.

 _Okay, dammit Jisoo! Calm your gay!_ She told herself as she continued to watch her. 

It was really hard though when she was looking like that.

Jennie stopped and drank some water from her bottle. 

"You can either continue to watch or join me" she says as she closed the cap. Jisoo was taken aback, she didn't know Jennie was aware of her presence.

"Oh, uhm, I was just looking for you, and here you are."

Jennie turned around to look at her and smirked.

She then bent down to take something behind a rock. Finally, she threw two wooden swords in her direction.

"Let's see what you're made of, Miss Avatar."

Jisoo swallowed. She guessed it was better to just follow what the dumpling wanted.

She walked forward and took them. 

They felt a bit heavy in her hands.

"I don't know how to use them. I mean, I remember being taught and all, but I don't know if I will be able to pull it off."

Jennie shrugged.

"Then let's test it out, shall we?"

Jisoo guessed that since she didn't have any choice, she should at least try. Anyway she was curious, Jennie did say she had killed that snake. So most likely, her abilities were back.

"Alright."

She then went towards Jennie and faced her, brandishing the weapons. 

Jin didn't really teach her much about swordfighting, but he did teach her about some fighting techniques, so maybe with those, she would be fine.

Jennie slowly walked around her.

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah."

Jisoo then made the first move, stepping forward and trying to slash her, but Jennie was able to block it.

"Tsk, disappointing."

"Hey, I'm still getting used to this."

"Alright."

Jisoo licked her lips and then went into a fighting stance. This time Jennie tested her mettle by going on the attack.

She was able to block a few of her hits but a lot of them still hit her.

"Dip your body further down. You look stiff standing like that." Jennie told her.

Jisoo did as she was told.

"Good, you will be able to move better with that." she tells her.

She then attacked Jisoo once again, this time, she was able to block more of her hits successfully.

They went at it for a few minutes, Jennie, attacking, and Jisoo blocking.

She noticed she was getting better at it. Her reaction was becoming faster, and her movements more fluid.

Finally, they stopped, and Jisoo heaved out a breath.

"That was a good first session. I can see that your movements are getting quicker as time progressed." Jennie told her.

"Yeah, I noticed that too."

Jennie nodded.

"We will train as much as we can, preferably in the mornings. I talked to Dara and she informed me there was a big possibility that your skills would come back slowly. So, in order for them to come back quicker, we will need to work on them."

"Okay."

Jennie smiled.

"You seem to have better stamina too."

Jisoo's face quirked up.

"You're right! I was able to keep up with you without going out of breath!"

"That is definitely a big improvement."

Suddenly, Jisoo's stomach grumbled loudly. They looked at each other and laughed.

"I guess my stomach is complaining now." Jisoo says sheepishly.

"Definitely. Well, you were sleeping for three days. Come on, let's get back to the tents so you can get some food."

Jisoo sighed.

"Ugh, what I would give to eat some real chicken, or noodles."

"Yeah, I know how that feels. Well, we can rest up here for a few days and train, then proceed to the nearest city which is Dophis. We can stay there for a bit, eat some real food and try to get some information about the other sins."

"How far away are we from there?"

"Oh, it's just a day's walk. Most of the thieves here in the road heading to Kathmandu comes from there. It is after all known as the City of Rogues."

"Whoa, the City of Rogues?"

"Yup, thieves, assassins, shifty people, they mostly live there. It's no surprise because that city was founded by a notorious pirate."

"I see. Will there be elves there?"

"Probably. But elves are not known to dwell with the "common folk". They mostly keep to themselves."

"Hmm..." Jisoo says thoughtfully. It would be nice to meet one. She wondered how they looked like in this reality.

"Oh, we might see that thief with the cats again." 

Jennie frowned.

"It's better if we didn't. She knows that we're soldiers, and we want to be as low-key as possible."

She did have a point.

"Alright, I understand. Can we have those capsules now? I feel so famished, I think I am about to faint again."

"Sure thing. I don't wanna have to change you again." she teases and walks on ahead.

Jisoo blushed furiously.

"Shut up!"

Jennie laughed at her reaction. 

She smiled, Jisoo felt they were going to get along better now.

Well, she did save her life after all apparently.


	11. The City of Rogues

**Jennie's POV**

Rain was suddenly pouring down on them like cats and dogs as they neared the city of Dophis. They decided to set up camp and wait for the downpour to stop before walking once again towards their destination.

As they waited inside Jisoo's tent, they had both settled upon changing into civilian clothes that were prepared for them beforehand inside their packs. This was so they could easily blend in if they needed to enter different towns or cities without arousing suspicion. 

Soldier uniforms always attracted attention, even on normal days.

Daesung had also added in some special face clay packets so they could alter their appearance. Although it didn't totally change how they would look like, it was enough for them not to be recognized. 

Jennie has been to Dophis a few times, and she already had a go-to look where she would be easily identified by the people she had already built connections with.

It was part of their intelligence work, and everyone knew that to be able to get information that was not easily accessed, rogues were a good source for that. YG had it's own rogue network, which was the bread and butter of their intelligence branch. In fact, Jennie had once or twice thought about joining their ranks in the past before deciding to go for the special Black Label ops unit instead. 

Their job was riskier, and required a lot of deception as well as connections. Jennie wasn't exactly the type who liked to play those types of games, so that's why she didn't proceed with her initial plan.

But still, even with their own network, there were some information that needed to be found out right away, and for that to happen, you had to have your own sources. 

As Jennie started to drift out with her thoughts, Jisoo captured her attention once again as she giggled at her own reflection.

She had tried to teach the latter on how to effectively use the clay mask pack. The girl was now experimenting on different looks.

At one point she said it would be fun if she looked like someone without a nose and be called as 'she who must not be named'. She had to talk her out of it as she would definitely garner some attention because of her choice.

"It would have been so cool though if I went with my initial plan." Jisoo told her as she checked out her appearance on the mirror.

Jennie sighed, "We do not need cool, we need to be inconspicuous. Come on, give me that." she says as she takes the clay mask from her hand. 

"Now, turn around and face me." Jennie commanded, and the other girl did as she was told.

Jennie then smeared some of the putty on her face and Jisoo closed her eyes as the younger girl did her work. A few minutes later, Jennie smiled in satisfaction as she put on the finishing touches of her creation.

"There we go. Try and see if you like it."

Jisoo turned around again and opened her eyes as she inspected her appearance on the mirror. A small smile appeared on her face.

"Oh wow, I didn't know it could turn out like this! I look really...intimidating."

"It requires a bit of practice to get the hang of changing your appearance with this. It's best that you look like someone who people don't want to mess with. The more of them avoid us, the better."

"Hmm...I see what you mean." Jisoo paused thoughtfully, "I am just curious about one thing though?"

Jennie raised her eyebrows, "And what is that?"

"Are soldiers like, the police or something in this world?"

Jennie pursed her lips at the other girl who looked at her curiously. She knew there was no point in dilly dallying this information, so she sat up straighter as she thought about her answer, "No, we're not. We're more like...mercenaries. People being hired to work for different types of jobs."

Jisoo gave her a puzzled look, "Isn't that kinda illegal?"

"In Argus it isn't. The government has sanctioned and licensed us to do these jobs. In fact, a lot of the trainees we have often decide to graduate and join the police force, while others, the military. Some of us decides to stay with the academy and move on to become soldiers. The pay is much better, that is for sure, but the type of work that we have are far more dangerous than normal. In fact, the government themselves employs us at times to do the really complicated ones."

"I see. But I am sure you also do some stuff like assassinations, right? Shouldn't the government be worried about that? What if you were assigned to kill a politician, or the President, King, whatever type of government you have here?"

"The academies and the government have both made a pact. They have come to an agreement that they are not to do anything negative to each other to keep the peace. If for example, an academy is found guilty to have, let's say, an elected official be killed off, they will be banned for life along with their license and the culprits as well as the academy's leaders will be tried by the military court."

Jisoo nodded, "That sounds really harsh, but I guess a system has to be in place in order to avoid conflict. You also mentioned academies, as in more than one. I think you I heard you talk about it when we were discussing things with the Director. So, there are others besides YG?"

"That's right. There are only three academies that are allowed to operate all around the world, and they are known as YG, SM and JYP. The Big Three as some people call it. These academies have different branches all over the globe and all three have their own distinct specialties. I'll tell you more about them later."

Jisoo whistled, "Alright, I got it. I guess I still have a lot to learn about how everything works here."

"Don't worry. Your memories should come back soon, so some things should make sense by then." she says as she scrunched up her face and realized she no longer heard the pattering of the raindrops on top of their tent, "It seems the rain has already stopped. Let's get ready to head on towards Dophis."

"Sure thing, though I am not really looking forward to that trek again." Jisoo sighed as she got her pack ready as Jennie was about to open the flap, but then paused as if she suddenly remembered something.

"Your stamina is improving, I can see that." she turned back around to face the other girl, "Oh, and by the way, when we arrive at the gates, let me do the talking. Dophis is not a friendly city, most of the people there are wanted criminals, so being careful is a must."

"Sounds exciting. If that is the case, why is the government not doing anything about them?"

"Well, Dophis used to be a place where business was booming, and was slowly gaining a reputation of being the entertainment capital here in Argus. But when the pirate Blackbeard decided to form an alliance with the rest of his own kind a hundred years ago just so they could take over the city, the government for some reason turned a blind-eye on them. Maybe because they were too powerful, and the government had it's hands full with an ongoing civil war. The residents of Dophis had no choice but to bow down to the new leadership that had taken over. As time passed, the city gained a new reputation of being the center of illegal trade and crime. In fact, you can't arrest anyone in the city, it is the sanctuary of the murderers, thieves and whatnot. The government just pretends it doesn't exist, but of course, everyone knows it's there. It is an independent entity of sorts, and Argus cannot do anything about it."

Jisoo was dumbfounded about this, "Oh wow, they must have been that powerful, huh?"

"They were and still are, so that is why we must be careful when we go in there, especially since I am sure the Legion will be trying to find you." Jennie says as she turned back and opened the flap of the tent while Jisoo followed behind her.

"Right, the Legion." 

"Also, I think it's safer that we use different names instead of the ones we have. Since I already have contacts in Dophis, you can call me RJ. That's the name they know me as. You can pick yours if you want."

"Why RJ?"

"It's short for Ruby Jane, that's my middle name."

Jisoo stopped on her tracks and thought about it for a bit. Then she snapped her fingers, looking like she had thought of the best idea ever.

"If you're RJ, then you can call me TR." she says, grinning.

"TR?"

"Yeah! I think having a middle name is cool, so I decided to make one for myself. So now, my full name shall be Jisoo Turtle Rabbit Kim!" she announces proudly. 

Jennie rolled her eyes and face-palmed. This girl definitely had all kinds of weird ideas.

"That's..." she sighed, "You can keep your middle name if you want, but we need a different name, something that is more...appropriate."

"You're no fun."

"We are going inside a dangerous city, fun is the last thing on my mind."

"Arrgh...fine. Just call me Chichi then, I usually use that as my in-game name."

"Alright, Chichi it is." Jennie says as she pushed the button on Jisoo's tent to fold it and make it smaller. "Here's your tent, let's go. We are almost losing daylight, and I want to get there as soon as we can so we'll be able to get a decent room with a proper meal."

Jisoo took her tent from Jennie's hands and put it inside her backpack.

"Alright, lead the way...RJ."

Jennie just rolled her eyes again, but as she turned away, a small smile was playing on her lips.

As they trudged along the trail for a few more hours, the sun began to slowly sink on them. Jennie started to quicken her pace as she noticed this, and thankfully, Jisoo was able to keep up with her. Jennie knew that the girl was already slowly recovering what she had lost from the binding, and this was a good thing for the both of them. She also wanted for them to get to their destination soon as possible as it wasn't safe to be travelling towards Dophis during the night. 

Finally, after what seemed like forever and the sun was already barely peeking at them from the horizon, Jennie saw the shining city lights of Dophis. She then hurried her pace even more, and Jisoo did her best to keep up with her.

After a few minutes, they could hear the bustling noise of the city, and when they got nearer, they finally saw the road that led inside the city gates. Velocycles and Hovervees were busy plying their routes and a lot of people were also walking to and from the location. 

Jisoo looked awestruck, and Jennie could understand why.

The city was huge, definitely, but aside from that, it was surrounded by very high brick walls that were heavily guarded by it's own special security squad. People were dressed in different kinds of outfits, from the normal fare to the bizarre, and the girl was almost gawking at them.

Jennie then tapped her arm and whispered, "Don't let them catch you staring at them or looking like you are new to this place. You'll get us in trouble faster than you can say help."

Jisoo visibly gulped, "Okay, don't worry, I can handle it." she says as she quickly changed to a more stoic expression. Jennie could only hope she could keep that up.

"Jisoo, you have to behave yourself, okay? We don't want to attract trouble."

"Hey, I am not some five year old! Don't worry, I'll handle it." she promised, looking at Jennie in the eye as she did.

Jennie internally sighed and crossed her fingers. It was now or never.

They both approached the gate. So far, no one was paying them any mind, so that was a good sign. 

When they were in front of the gate, they lined-up along with the other people wanting to gain access inside the city. When it was finally their turn, a burly guy with curly orange hair and a rough face grunted at them but didn't look at them directly.

"Pass?"

Jennie took out something from her bag and handed it out to him. The guy ran their passes through a scanner and grunted again. 

"In." he simply stated. Jennie just went on ahead as Jisoo followed behind her.

The city was busy. There were different stalls selling a lot of goods which were mostly illegally obtained, sometimes at very high prices. People were still milling about as they viewed their wares, hoping to find something of value.

There were a lot of bars and clubs in scattered in the area. Prostitutes and their prospective clients were trying to do business. Others were just loitering about, sometimes giving people menacing stares. 

Some fights would break out at random, and Jennie had to commend Jisoo for not jumping out in fright when it did. She was worried what her reaction might be, but so far, the girl had kept her promise.

At long last, they arrived at the inn Jennie usually stayed in when she was here. She hoped that they had rooms available for the both of them. 

As she opened the door, she noticed that another fight was taking place in the middle of the dining area, and people were putting up their bets on who would win. She ignored them and headed straight for the innkeeper's desk. 

She placed both hands on the counter and grinned at the guy who was busy reading a book.

"Vince!" she called out.

The guy was taken by surprise and almost toppled down the chair he was sitting on. When he finally regained his balance, he looked at the culprit and sighed when he saw who it was.

"God dammit RJ, at some point in time, you're going to kill me with a heart attack."

"And hello to you too. I need a room. Actually rooms."

"There's nothing available." he snorted, and tried getting back to his book, which Jennie easily took from him.

"Oh, come on now, Vince, I know you always have something available for me."

"You better give that back to me or I am kicking you out of here." he growled at her.

Jennie smiled at him sweetly, "Awwe, that sounds really scary, but yeah, come on now. I really need a place to stay with my friend here. This is Chichi by the way. Chichi, meet Vince. He owns this dump."

Jisoo just nodded at him but Vince ignored her presence.

"For somebody who calls it a dump, you sure love overstaying your welcome here." he says, smirking.

"Aah, but I have my reasons." she answers as she inconspicuously passes a note to him which he quickly reads. He then throws it in the fireplace behind him. 

This time, he gives Jisoo a really hard stare.

"So, a room please?" Jennie asks once again.

He then turns back her attention towards her, "There is only one available. Soonho is here if you must know, but he's leaving at dawn. Maybe you can make your friend move there once he's gone."

Jennie shrugged, "I guess I have no choice then. Same place?"

"Yup."

Jennie hands him back his book. 

"Thanks Vince. Also, we're both hungry, we've had a really long journey. If you'd be kind enough to send us two hot meals?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll have Sana send them up to you."

"Great!" she says as she gets the keys from the innkeeper and proceeds towards the stairs at the end of the hall.

They climbed up and Jennie led Jisoo towards the last room in the hallway and opened it using the key. When they were finally inside, Jisoo let go of a breath she seemed to be holding in for quite sometime and plopped herself down on the bed.

"Oh my God, that was a scary experience! This place really reeks of danger!" she whined as she spread her arms out and looked at the roof, "It's so good to be alive."

Jennie chuckled at her and placed her pack on one of the tables in the room and leaned on it while crossing her arms. 

"Yeah, this city isn't safe, but it is a gold mine of information. I was impressed that you didn't even flinch."

"I was just as surprised as you are! I guess my old self wasn't easy to scare. I felt calm even though I was afraid." Jisoo told her honestly.

"Well, don't worry for now. This inn is actually a secret soldier base, one of the few actually in this city. Vince has been staying here for a long time and he's a Black Label Ops agent that specializes in espionage. He has been working undercover so soldiers can stay here and at the same time, gain information about the Legion. It's not an easy job. Soldiers from different academies stay and work here too. In fact Sana, who will be bringing up our food in a few minutes, is from JYP."

"Oh, so you also work together with the other academies?"

"At times, especially when it's against the Legion. But we are also competing against each other. It is still a business after all."

"You have a point." Jisoo says, and then suddenly becomes silent.

"Well, if you don't have any questions for me, I'll just be in the shower. I need a really good bath." Jennie says as she slowly stood up. "We'll eat and rest up for now and then tomorrow, it will be back to business as usual."

"Okay."

"I'll be introducing you to one of my main contacts here. His name is Bambam, and he's part of the Rogue's Guild in the city. That guild is highly known for their connections and information."

"Sounds good." Jisoo tells her as she yawns, "Let me know once you're done so I can take a shower too before I go to bed..or you know, we can both save water." she says with a smirk, then Jisoo's expression quickly changed to one of surprise.

"I-uhm..." she stuttered. 

Jennie raised an eyebrow, it was clear that the girl was surprised at her own boldness. She began to ask herself if this was an aspect of the personality she had forgotten or a manifestation of one of the sins.

Either way, she'll find out soon enough.

"Wow, that was bold. Maybe in a hundred years, or never." Jennie smirked, and went inside the bathroom. She really needed to de-stress herself after everything that had happened.

As both women did their own thing, they weren't aware that right below them, the girl they had met earlier in the forest had entered the inn for a drink.


	12. Risky Business

**Lisa's POV**

Darkness just fell upon this city. You would think at first glance with the twinkling lights and the booming market, that everything here was fine and dandy. That people were living the life and were free to do what they wanted here.

Well too bad for them, when they came here and found out that this was the worst place to be, the illusion of gaining the "freedom" that they sought after was broken. This city is as dark, or even murkier, than it's reputation.

People here die of starvation and negligence. Even worse is that if you didn't have somebody backing you up, you could get killed here without so much as a warning. Newbies were fair game. 

In order to live here, you had to fight your way up. Life is a jungle in Dophis, the strong survive, the weak perish.

A lot of people who aren't from here says anarchy is the name of the game in this city. I say otherwise. 

It's a dictatorship. 

The only rule is that there aren't any rules? 

Nah. Fuck that. 

The only rule is you follow whatever the Godfather tells it's citizens. 

Heathens, the whole lot of them.

But who am I to question that? I live here. 

No...I survive here, and surviving is all I gotta do to make sure I stay alive, for both me and my mom. 

And today is not a good day to send my report to my assigned leader. He will be disappointed for sure.

I sighed deeply, damn I needed a drink. 

After sending in the news that I found two soldiers near Kathmandu, our boss tasked me and a few of his men to have them searched right away.

It was of utmost importance he said.

They even scolded me for not doing anything about them.

Hell, how would I know the two of them were important? Nobody told me that I needed to be on the lookout for soldiers.

Anyway, who was crazy enough to fight one, much less two? Unless you're from the Legion, the first thing you do when you meet one is run.

Even so, I still gotta pay the price. That's how their "system" worked.

Now that a few days have passed and we still haven't found a single hair of their existence, they are starting to get antsy.

Why, I have not the slightest clue.

I stopped as I reached my destination. As if by habit, I looked up at the sign of the inn, it read "The Devil's Triangle". 

I could never for the life of me understand why Vince would name his inn like that, it didn't sound welcoming. But hell, this city is less than welcoming anyway, and neither was he.

I shook myself free from my thoughts and walked up to the door. As I entered, I was met with loud music and the incessant chatter of the regulars. 

I quickly headed inside and tried to locate the person I was supposed to meet here.

Well, it wasn't really that difficult, nobody would miss that shock of silver-white hair in a crowd.

As soon as I spotted him, I walked over towards his direction. He was busy drinking with two other guys who I also had the displeasure of working with.

As I got nearer, he finally noticed my presence and gave me a huge grin. He beckoned me to come over, and I quickly walked up to where he was. 

I gave him a tight-lipped smile and I sat myself down. He thumped my back and grinned at me even wider.

He looked like he was already drunk.

"Lisaaa! We've been waiting for you! Hey Sana, a beer for the lady please!" he calls out at the pretty blonde who passed by our table.

"I'm kinda busy here, Bam!" she yelled in response.

"Just one beer, or let somebody else get it for us if you're really that tied up!"

"Ugh, fine! Give me a minute!" Sana told him, obviously exasperated.

"Thank you, you're the best!"

"Shut up, you owe me extra!" Bambam just laughed good-naturedly at her response.

As soon as she disappeared, I looked back at him and sighed "You're drunk." I told him.

"That's a nice way to greet a friend." he says as he looks at his mug and chugs more beer.

"A better greeting would have been telling us if you found those two soldiers yet." one of the guys who was with Bambam, says to my face. 

His name was Yugyeom, and if his brown tresses and annoying smirk didn't make you want to hit him, something was wrong with you. He was an asshole, and really loved riling me up.

"Well maybe if you helped with the search, we would have found them by now." I replied sarcastically.

"It doesn't seem like you're taking this too seriously." the other guy piped in. 

Oh, JB. He loved licking the bosses shoes too, it was his hobby, aside from being a prick. Right now the two of them were tag-teaming me, as if they were any better.

"Guys, guys, let's not pressure Lisa into this, okay? I'm sure she did her best." Bambam told them, obviously trying to make sure this didn't blow-up any further.

"That's the problem with you, Bam. You're too soft on her. Just because you're childhood friends, doesn't mean that you can just go easy on her." Yugyeom told him. 

"I agree with him." JB nodded.

I got my dagger and slammed it on the table, "You two want to run your mouths or do you want to settle this at the back?" I asked as I glared at them both, my blood boiling.

I was usually the calm one, but what they were doing was too much. Bambam was a good leader and he was great at his job. They were being unfair to him just because they didn't like me.

Bambam held my wrist, and then looked at me in the eye, signaling to me that he will be the one to handle this.

"Alright, Lisa, calm down. You two, if you don't like the way I lead my team, I would like to see you try and bring it up with the boss. Or, we can settle this the old way, we can fight for it and if you can kill me, you get to call the shots." he says as he stared at the both of them. 

JB and Yugyeom looked at each other, it seems they were actually contemplating about it! Fucking jerks!

Being the leader of a team meant you had perks that normal thugs didn't get everyday, and I bet they were tempted to take the offer.

They looked at Bam again and JB grinned at him, "Well, who gets an opportunity like this everyday? Why not? We think you're shit at your job anyway."

Bambam shrugged, "Lisa will be my second. We'll meet you boys at the back then." he tells them as he gets up and puts on his long red leather coat. He then signals me to follow him. 

"You just made it easier for us, there is no worse thief in Dophis than Lisa. You just dug your own grave." Yugyeom says while JB chuckled at his statement. Bambam stopped in his tracks and smirked.

"Yes, Lisa is definitely not the best thief. She's not subtle, she's loud, and for the life of me, I can never understand why she keeps on summoning Leo when he has not been fully synergized to her yet."

Damn asshole. To think I thought he was my friend.

Then Bambam turns to face them, "But you haven't seen her fight, have you? It will be my pleasure to show you why I keep her around. Anyway, stop mumbling and hurry up, my time here is precious."

With that he turned around again and winked at me. I just looked at him and rolled my eyes, then I followed him towards the back entrance of the inn.

Nope he's not forgiven. He's still an asshole. My asshole of a best friend.

When we reached the back alley, he leaned on the wall and crossed his arms. He was pretty calm, and I knew why. 

He didn't become one of the leaders of a team for nothing, and those two were going to be sorry that they ever decided to pick a fight with him.

"I think I hear them. Are you ready?" he asked me.

"Yeah, sure."

"Good and oh Lisa?"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't summon Leo."

"You are a Leo anti!"

"No, I'm not. Look, I know he's your favorite. I just don't want us getting scratched again."

"I don't play favorites!"

"Lisa...focus." he tells me as he sees both guys make their way towards us. I guess it couldn't be helped.

I had to kick their asses the traditional way.

Bambam moved and decided to meet them. 

I also noticed he didn't remove his coat, a sign telling me that in his eyes, these opponents were small fry.

He grinned at them, "Ready when you are."

They two men looked at each other, and without warning they attacked him. He was ready for them of course.

He easily dodged their attempt and pushed them both towards me.

They stumbled, obviously shocked at his speed. 

With this, as they were within my range, they decided to change their focus towards me, thinking that taking me out first would be the smartest thing to do, since according to them I was the "worst thief" in Dophis.

I grew up practice fighting with Bambam. 

I guess they didn't know that.

As they pounced on me while brandishing their daggers, I evaded their attacks without so much as a sweat. 

I didn't even block one, I just basically dodged every single one they tried to throw at me.

They did their best to play catch up, but they couldn't make a single attack hit, and I could see the building frustration on their faces.

Bam was just enjoying the show nearby.

"I just wanted you guys to know that yes, I am wicked fast. But Lisa, she's on another level. Even I have a hard time making my punches connect with her face when we train."

He then nods at me, he wanted me to end this quickly.

I caught Yugyeom's dagger hand and twisted it, making sure to incapacitate it for the time being. 

As I did, JB tried to slash me with his weapon and I dodged his attempt. As soon as I was done, I faced him. He tried to go for me, but I was able to evade. 

I kicked his knee from behind and made sure to incapacitate one of his legs.

Both men were groaning on the floor within a few seconds.

Bam sighed and looked at them. Clicking his tongue, he bent down to face them.

"I could easily kill you right here right now for the disrespect that you have shown to me and my subordinate. However, I don't want to lose valuable allies. Tell Lisa you're sorry and I'll forget this ever happened."

Yugyeom and JB looked at the two of us with fear, "I'm sorry, Lisa! It won't happen again!" JB shouted.

"Y-yes, same! I'm sorry too!" Yugeom blurted while holding his injured hand.

"Satisfied?" Bambam asked me. 

I smirked, "Yeah, sure. Let them go, they might pee in their pants. I don't want to see that shit."

Bambam laughed and looked at them once again, "You heard her. Now, get the fuck out of my sight!"

Both of them quickly stood up. Yugyeom held JB, and together, they hobbled their way out of the alley.

As soon as they were gone, Bambam and I looked at each other for a few seconds and then laughed heartily.

"Oh my God, did you see the look on their faces?" I asked, wheezing.

"Oh yeah, they were fucking shocked at how fast you were!" Bambam replied as he held his side, still laughing at what had happened.

We continued on for a few minutes until our laughter died down. We smiled at each other, then Bambam put his arm around my shoulder and led me back towards the back door entrance.

"This calls for a celebration!" he says as he kicked the door open, "SANA, MORE BEER PLEASE!" he shouted. Sana just raised an eyebrow and went back to what she was doing.

"I love this place but the service could be better." he muttered as he led me towards one of the tables. As soon as we sat down, two mugs of beer were slammed down on our table.

Bambam looked at Sana and grinned at her, "Why, thank you!"

She just shook her head and went back to her duties.

"I take that back, the service here is excellent!" he exclaims as he takes his mug and raises it, "To our continuing friendship and more ass-kicking in the future!"

I got my own mug and grinned back at him, "To ass-kicking and whatever else!" I said as we toasted our good fortune and gulped down the contents.

Once done, I felt better and refreshed. I really needed that drink.

"So, let's get down to it before anything else. What's your report?" Bam asked me directly. He was always straight to the point, so I wasn't surprised.

"Nothing, no sign of them at all." I sighed and he nodded in understanding.

"I figured as much, soldiers who are trying to hide are very difficult to find. I wouldn't fault you on that."

"Yeah, but the boss thinks otherwise."

"That's because he had been tasked by the Legion to find them, and he's scared that if he fails, they'll have his head on a pike. That's why he has been making irrational decisions. They haven't helped his cause at all." he says, his gaze hardening.

"The Legion is involved with this?" I asked, surprised.

"Unfortunately, yes. It seems they are really bent on finding these two, and asking for the help of the Thieves Guild and getting it is no ordinary feat. You have to give it to their leader, whoever he is." 

"I didn't expect that, I know how the boss is all about working independently as much as we can."

"Yeah, well things change. How's your mom by the way?"

I looked down, asking about my mom was a sensitive topic, "She's...she's okay for now. But the doctor said she's getting worse, and would require a new treatment soon."

Bambam looked at me gravely, he was close with my mom, she was like a second mother to him. 

"Lisa, I want you to forget about being a thief, I know you're doing this for her, but its far too dangerous. You need to be there taking care of her."

I huffed, "I can't just do that, Bam! You know she needs this and I have no choice!" 

Bambam inhaled and closed his eyes, "Look Lisa, I'm like a brother to you. Let me take care of this. I was just assigned a new mission, and there seems to be this item that can heal any type of illness. The Legion apparently wants it, but I want a piece of it too." he whispers to me.

My eyes grew wide, I didn't need to get the full details to understand what he was thinking. I slowly looked around to make sure no one was listening and leaned forward, "You're thinking of betraying the Thieves Guild AND the Legion? ARE YOU CRAZY?" I hissed at him.

"It is the only way, and I don't want you to get involved! Aside from the item, there are diamonds nestled with it as well, so you can live freely wherever you decide to go with your mom."

Great. He was suicidal.

"Don't make me summon Leo and order him to scratch your face so you can see reason! I won't let you do that!"

Bambam looked at me meaningfully, "I have to, your mom had saved my life. It's the only way for me to repay her."

"Mom won't be happy if she learns what you did, do you think she'll take that? No way!" I said, trying to reason with him.

He gave me a small smile, "That's why you won't tell her. Lisa, tell me honestly, do you think your mom will survive with traditional medicine?"

I looked at him, then turned my gaze down, dammit he knew me too much. He knew that there was almost no hope for her.

"I don't know, but it's best to try." I responded.

"But with this item, it is a guarantee. Come on, Lisa, please agree. We can actually save your mom with this." he begged, he really wanted to do this.

I felt torn, I certainly didn't want Bambam to risk his life just for this, and at the same time I wanted to save my mom too.

Why must life be always so unfair?

I bit my lips, there was only one way to ensure that Bambam will live and my mom will survive at the same time.

"Okay, I'll do it. But on one condition." I said as I looked at him in the eye, "You will let me help."

Bambam slammed his hand on the table, "No way, they can go after me, but not you too!"

I leaned back and shrugged, "That or nothing. Take it or leave it, I won't take no for an answer." I say, I didn't want him to do this alone. This was my problem after all.

He stared at me, I am sure he can see how determined I was to do this.

I won't let my mom be healed for a sacrifice I'm certain she didn't want him to make.

He made an irritated look and clenched his fists, but I knew he would give in soon.

Finally, he slammed his fist on the table again, "Fine! But you have to do everything I say, understood?"

"As long as I get to help."

Bambam sighed, "Good."

We let the silence envelope us both, this was a big decision. We were going against two very powerful factions, all for the hope of saving my mom. We had to do this right.

He held his mug and stared at the remaining beer, then he raised it in front of me and smiled, "To us, who always faces each of our enemies upfront."

I returned his smile and raised my mug in response.

"And protects each others backs."


	13. The First Manifestation

**Jennie's POV**

The city was bustling with life. People were trying to sell their (mostly) illegal wares, others were dealing with some sort of shady businesses in the shadows, while the rest did their own thing. Jennie was part of the latter, and she had Jisoo tag along with her.

She was already quite familiar with Dophis, and she knew if she needed some info about the remaining seven sins, it was very likely that she could find it here. She had decided to wake up early that day and disturb Jisoo's sleep so they could both discuss their plans. 

The older girl had been a little grumpy because she was not used to being woken up this early, but since she really didn't have much of a choice, she had to listen to what Jennie had in mind.

Once the discussion was over, Jennie had breakfast sent over to them as she tried to reach out to her contact in Dophis. 

At first, he didn't answer, but after a few tries, she was finally able to reach him. While talking, the both of them threw away any formalities and went straight to business, quickly deciding when and where in the city they would meet up. As soon as it was done, Jennie let Jisoo know that they needed to go out later in the day. She couldn't risk leaving her alone, as a lot of questionable things happened in this city without warning.

As they were walking down the street with their disguises in place, a lot of peddlers were calling them out while trying to sell them their stuff. Since Jisoo was new, it wasn't a surprise that she became curious about the items that they were offering up for people. They had a lot of them, and some even Jennie found quite cool as well.

Suddenly, Jisoo had stopped in her tracks. Jennie was about to continue when she noticed she was no longer following her. As she looked back, she saw that JIsoo was taking a gander at the item a merchant was trying to sell. It was a medium-sized figure of a woman with ashen skin, red eyes and was carrying a bow.

"It's a very rare collectible from Sector 52, a lot of people who follow this video game from that world would kill to have this!" the merchant pitched to her. It was obvious Jisoo was in awe of it.

"How much?" she heard Jisoo ask as Jennie walked closer towards them. This was no time to be buying items.

"It's just 1,000 Gold coins! A bargain if you ask me for something this rare!"

Jisoo turned to face Jennie who was now beside her.

"How much is 1,000 Gold Coins in Sector 52?"

"A hundred thousand dollars. Jisoo, this is not the time for this." Jennie whispered as Jisoo looked at her in shock when she heard the price. She turned around at the merchant, anger written on her face.

"Hey you! You're a cheat! Yes, this Sylvanas Windrunner figurine is rare, but it shouldn't be that expensive!" she told him, raising her voice.

"Probably not, but it took a lot of effort to get this here. We also have to account for labor now, huh?" he answered, obviously getting annoyed at her. To Jennie's surprise, Jisoo suddenly held the merchant by the collar with both hands.

"I want this! Sell it to me at a lower price, or give it to me! You don't want to know what happens to people if you don't agree to what I want!" she hissed at him venomously. A lot of people were startled by the commotion, and were beginning to flock around them.

 _This is bad._ Jennie thought as she moved to try and calm Jisoo down. What was with her? It was just a figurine! 

"Chichi, I know you love these collectibles, but I am sure he has his reasons for the pricing. Let the good man go." Jennie told her, with a hint of a warning in her voice. She was sure the other girl would listen, but she was taken aback when Jisoo turned to look at her.

The girl held so much contempt in her eyes, that she didn't look like herself. It was as if she was consumed by something she didn't understand. Jennie was baffled, why was she acting like this?

Then she saw it, she saw it when they locked their gazes as she tried to hold her ground to convince her to let this go. There was a shade of red brimming beneath Jisoo's irises. 

That's when it hit her like a train. This was definitely a manifestation of the sins. She had to do something to calm her down. But what?

"You don't find this unfair? He is obviously swindling people! He ought to be taught a lesson, the fucking swine." she growled. Jennie could see that the merchant's cohorts were beginning to surround them. This was bad. This was very, very bad. 

"You stupid little cunt, you dare accuse me of being dishonest with my business?"

"I am not accusing, I KNOW you are swindling people!" 

"Are you so eager to die?"

"Are you? Give me that and we can forget all about this."

The merchant was about to call out the command to kill when somebody walked in and held him by the shoulder. The silver hair shining in the sun told Jennie who it was.

"Well, what is happening here, Hosh? What is all the commotion about?" he asked him calmly.

The merchant pointed angrily at Jisoo, who was still holding his collar. "Can't you see this cunt not letting me go, Bam? She thinks she's a know it all with how I deal with my business! Spreading some false news about me being a swindler!" 

Jisoo gritted her teeth, "Well aren't you?"

Bambam whistled, "Well now, someone is pretty riled up. Don't worry Hosh, I got this. I know these two. That girlie over there is just overly passionate about her collectibles, she can get a little carried away, if you know what I mean." he says, winking at the merchant, who seems to have gotten the idea. 

Then he looked into Jennie's eyes, "RJ, deal with your companion now will you? You know what to do." he says, sending her a message which only she would understand. Somehow, she got it.

She gently took Jisoo's hands off of the collar of the guy. At first she looked at her angrily, she wanted to say something but Jennie firmly held her hand. 

"I am so sorry for my companion, Mr. Hosh. Like Bambam said, she can be overly passionate about these collectibles. I'll be sending in some compensation for the embarrassment she has caused." she told him, bowing deeply. Jisoo was about to say something again, but she squeezed her hand hard, making her wince in pain. 

The merchant bowed in turn, "I understand. I will be waiting for it, and don't you dare think about escaping from this." he warned. Bambam gave a small laugh.

"Oh Mr. Hosh, RJ is a woman of her word, don't worry. Now, since we are on the topic of keeping promises, how about we discuss the one you told me last week, hmm?" 

Jennie saw the merchant's face pale, he must have loaned something from the Theives Guild. 

She saw Bambam secretly use his hand to signal them to move away somewhere, and Jennie heeded that quickly. Once they were alone and far away from earshot, she turned around and faced Jisoo.

"Jennie, what the fuck were you doing? He was a thief! He should pay for it!"

For some reason, Jennie just felt she knew what she had to do. She held Jisoo's hands and looked into her eyes once again. 

"Jisoo, it's okay. I know you are angry, I know you really wanted that item, but you have to fight it, you have to fight this, okay? This isn't you.

Jisoo's eyebrows furrowed, she looked confused.

"Fight what?" she asked, this time, the register of her voice became lower.

"Fight whatever this is within you that's threatening to take over. Do you understand what I mean?" 

Jisoo looked agitated, it seemed that it was working.

"I-I dunno, Jennie. What is it I am fighting?" Jisoo whispered. It was then the look in her eyes changed from angry, to confused, to helpless.

"Something inside you that isn't you. Fight it. Fight it at least, even for me?"

"For you?"

"Yes, if that's what you need to do."

The red glow in her eyes now began to dim.

"Okay. I will fight it for you, Jen." she tells her and closes her eyes. 

Jennie squeezed her hands gently, she hoped this was really working. A few minutes later, Jisoo finally opened her eyes and breathed out. She then started to sway a bit, forcing Jennie to hold on to her tighter so she wouldn't fall down.

"Jisoo, are you okay?" she asked, worry evident in her voice. 

The older girl put her hand on her forehead, obviously trying to make sense of everything, "Damn, what happened? I-I don't know why I was so mad at him. I wanted to get that figurine so bad that I couldn't help myself. If he didn't do it, I wanted to...to...I wanted to kill him."

She looked so lost and out of it. For times like these, Jennie had to be strong, she couldn't afford to just face this lying down. This was just the first manifestation, and she knew there would be more to come. Others, she was sure, would be much more intense than this. 

"Remember Jisoo, it's not you, so please don't feel bad about it. I think we just witnessed a taste of what a manifestation of the deadly sins would look like."

The older girl's eyes widened. She now understood what it was. She sank to the ground as she stared hard at the wall. 

"I didn't know it would be like....that. I couldn't control it. I knew at the back of my mind that I was wrong, that I had to stop. But I wanted it, and I wanted so bad to hurt him for it." she says in a low voice. Then, she looked at Jennie.

"What if, what if I end up hurting you? Or anyone for that matter?"

Jennie could sense she was panicking. She sat down beside her, holding her hand once again.

"Jisoo, I wouldn't know or understand how you are feeling right now, it must be overwhelming. But, the Director made me come with you for a reason, and that reason is because he knows I can handle this. That I can handle whatever these sins do. But, I also want you to know that I cannot do this alone."

The other girl gave Jennie a puzzled expression, "What do you mean?"

Jennie sighed, "It means, I need you to also fight it along with me. We are a team now remember? I know you can do it, I believe in you. I mean you were able to fight it off just now. But I know it's not easy, I know it's hard to control. But together, we can defeat it. Just trust in me okay? Look to me when you need someone to help you calm down."

Jisoo looked at her for a long time, thinking about what she said. Finally, she squeezed her hand back and nodded, seeming to have resolved an inner conflict within her.

"Thank you, Jennie. From now on, I promise to fight it as much as possible. And don't worry, I trust you. I really do, believe it or not."

She smiled at her, this must have been difficult. At least they were able to get through the first hurdle. From now on, she should be more mindful of her companion. She now fully understood the extent of the problem, they must resolve this as soon as possible.

A shadow suddenly appeared, and both of them turned to see who it was. 

"Are you guys done now?" Bambam asked, as he lit a cigarette and inhaled the smoke.

"Yeah, we are. I'm sorry about that." Jennie told him, her head hanging.

Bambam waved his hand, "It's nothing. If that's the case, and you're ready, follow me."

He moved towards a small door near the alley, and both Jisoo and Jennie quickly tried to keep up with him. Once they arrived, he opened it, and motioned for them to go inside first.

The room was small, and was lit by candles. It was surrounded by pictures of framed carpets, and a small table with some chairs that was found at the center. 

They both entered quickly, and he closed the door with a thud. He then invited the both of them to sit down on one of the chairs as he put his cigarette inside an ashtray.

He then regarded the two girls in front of him and smirked.

"You don't usually bring back up with you, RJ. And if you did, it wouldn't be someone as troublesome as this." 

"I know, Bam, and I am sorry. I just had to, my boss wanted me to have her tag along even though she was a greenhorn. She wanted me to show her the ropes because she said she had 'potential'. Bullshit if you ask me." she tells him, putting up air quotes to emphasize what she meant.

"Still, knowing you, I know you wouldn't easily agree."

"True, but this time I really didn't have a choice. Off with my head she said if I disobeyed."

He cocked an eyebrow, "Hmm." Jennie was worried that he wouldn't believe her. Then suddenly, he started laughing, as if he had discovered the funniest thing ever on the planet.

"What's funny?" Jisoo asked. He looked at her, and this time he laughed even harder, shaking his head and trying to control his laughter.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry. So sorry." he says, coughing through each of the sentences, "You two are just so precious."

Jennie looked at him suspiciously, "What do you mean?"

He did his best to swallow his laughter. Finally, he managed to stop long enough to look at her in the eye and say, "I think it is time we stopped pretending, Jennie Kim of the Black Label Ops."

Jennie immediately stood up and raised her Bo towards his neck, "How did you know who I was?" she hissed at him menacingly. He looked at her weapon, seemingly amused by her action.

"Put your weapon down or you friend gets it." a voice from behind commanded her. It sounded familiar. When she turned to look at who it was, she discovered that it was the thief that they had met in the forest a few days ago, and she was holding a knife over Jisoo's throat.

She had no choice but to put down her weapon on the floor.

"Lisa, let the girl go." Bambam told her.

"But-"

"Lisa, I swear, it's fine. Just do it."

The thief called Lisa did as she was told.

"I swear to God Bam, if they are going to kill us, I will haunt you even in the afterlife!" she told him, obviously feeling frustrated.

"How did you know who I was?" Jennie asked again. Bambam gave her a small smile.

"I always knew who were, Jennie. I also know Jisoo, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't remember who I am."

Jisoo and Jennie looked at each other.

"Wait, but, how?" Jennie asked him in disbelief.

"Whoa, whoa, you know these people?" Lisa asked him, looking kinda shocked as well.

"One at a time, will you? Anyway, I know who are because of Vince. I know Vince because of Jisoo, we have history. A long one at that. One that I owe her big time. To be honest, I didn't know that you two were the people the Thieves Guild were looking for. I only put two and two together when I saw you out in the market. I would know Jisoo's stance from anywhere, even if she was in disguise. That's when I understood, you guys are here to complete the mission of the seven deadly sins and what I saw earlier was a manifestation of it. Correct me if I am wrong."

Jennie was speechless, how did he know all this?

"Wait, these two are the soldiers the Guild was looking for? Yah!" Lisa shouted, pointing at the two of them.

Bambam gave Lisa an exasperated look, "Yes, they are. Look, I promise to tell you about it once this is done. But trust me, this is very important. You do know the story of the Avatar of Fim, don't you?"

"Uh yeah?"

"This has something to do with it. Oh, and Jennie, if you're wondering why I know about all of that, Jisoo told me about it before she left for Sector 52. She asked me to help her find the information about the keys as much as I can." she says, pointing at her. Jisoo was still looking mildly surprised at everything she had discovered.

"Okay, well you did say you'd explain it to me later, so I guess were fine." Lisa says, crossing her arms as she look at them, "She still needs to pay for what she did to Luca though." Lisa says, jerking her thumb towards Jennie.

"Lisa, please just drop it."

The tall girl huffed and blew a strand of hair away from her face, "Ugh, fine!"

Jennie then faced Bambam, "Wait, so all these years, you've been trying to gather info about them?"

"Oh yeah, trust me, it has been very difficult. But, I do bear some good news."

"What is it?" Jisoo managed to ask. Bambam's smile became wider.

"We actually have a key located inside Dophis. Though, I am not sure which one is it. According to my sources, it can heal any sickness or wound, as long as the person who receives it is still alive and breathing." He tells them directly.

"What kind of key does it look like? Is it not like, an ordinary key?" Jisoo asks, sounding curious this time.

"No, each key doesn't look like a key at all. It looks like something else and has special properties in them. For example, the key in Dophis can heal. Who knows what the other keys are capable of." he tells them, confidence brimming in his voice.

"At least we have this information with us, we really didn't have any clue about it at all, except for the location of some of them."

"It's not surprising, it's really had to get information about them these days, it's all very hush hush. The thing is, most of it are found within members of the Blood Legion. I had to do a lot of espionage just to get these tidbits without being found. So most likely, they are aware that you are going after them and are guarding each key with their life."

Jennie looked worried, she wondered what kind of guards the Blood Legion had in store for them.

"Aah, but not to worry, I have a plan." Bambam tells her, a mischievous glint forming in his eye.

"Aren't you afraid of the Thieves Guild?" 

Bambam snorted, "No, our great leader is an idiot, but the Legion, they are something else."

"Okay? So if that's the case, how are we going to pull this off?"

Bambam smirked, "Don't worry, me and Lisa will have your back at all costs." he assured her.

Jennie guessed she had no choice but to trust the word of two thieves. 


	14. A Test of Life and Death

**Jisoo's POV**

"I think we should go from this side, it's quieter and no one will be able to spot us." Bambam says as he points at the blueprint, which was really a hologram that showed the guards and their patrol areas, aside from the layout of the building itself. He acquired this while he was chilling out in their guild's headquarters.

Jennie breathed in as she observed the hologram, "I don't think so. Yes, the outside is quiet, but once we get inside, we will be trapped easily by two patrols from here..." she points the location of the first, "...and here. We'll only alert them of our presence in no time."

Lisa crossed her arms, "She has a point. There has got to be a place where we can sneak in without getting caught, both from the inside and the outside."

The three of them were quiet again as they analyzed the situation.

While they did, Jisoo was taking a look at the map, she was amazed at how much detail it had. From the buildings, to it's framework and finally, to their security. Everything was in plain sight, no wonder these things were heavily guarded. 

She tried to see what was around it, and observed how things were moving from point A to point B.

"If we try it from here, there might be a chance, but we only have a limited amount of time before they find us. Still too risky." Jennie says as she puts her hand on her chin, she was in deep thought now.

It was clear that all three of them were quite stumped on what to do. Who wouldn't be? From what Jisoo could see, the security was pretty tight. From the grounds, to the inside of the building, it looked like the patrols worked on a tight schedule. There didn't seem to be any holes that could be found. 

If they did get through the guards, there was the problem of the key itself. It was kept in a high security vault, where according to Bambam, was guarded by one of the higher ranking Blood Legion members called an Infernal. He says that Infernals were a special team that the Legion had, much like the Black Label Ops. Running into one was dangerous, fighting one was suicidal. There was no way to use stealth around them. They either had to fight them or knock them out cold. 

With all of that combined, Jisoo realized the gravity of the situation and how risky it was just to try and get this key.

 _Is there anything at all I can do to help?_ she asked herself as she viewed the blueprint again.

Everything was just a jumbled mess to her. For some reason, her thoughts went back to a game she used to play on Sector 52 called "Hitman". In the game, you were an assassin, and you had to do different missions so you could eliminate your target. You could go stealth or you could go in with guns blazing. Somehow it reminded her of this scenario.

The three of them were still discussing things when suddenly, something hit her.

"Hey, uhm, I just wanted to know, when they do their patrols, do they check-in with each other in a specified amount of time? Like for example, do they report every 15 minutes or so to make sure the coast is clear?"

The three looked at her in surprise, especially Jennie.

"Good question, I don't think they do. They only check in once they rotate their shifts. They're pretty confident about their security." Bambam told her, smiling.

Jisoo then took a look at the blueprints, her brain started working. Suddenly, it was as if she could see the whole floor plan in her mind, and see the different nooks and crannies it hid.

"Here, this would be a good dropoff point." Jisoo says, pointing at a certain location without batting an eye.

"But there are three guards, there." Lisa tells her. Jisoo nods at that.

"Yes, three guards, but no patrols. Which means it will be safe to take them out in unison. The only problem would be is getting caught because they had to change shifts. You see, in this area right here..." Jisoo says as she traces the blueprint, "...there is a way for us to enter and get into the vents without running into anyone. Making it an easy entrance towards the vault itself."

Bambam had to clap his hands and grin at her, "Wow, it has been awhile since I saw you in action. I formally welcome you back."

Lisa shrugged and scratched Luca's fur, "At least you're not too useless."

Jennie was quiet for a second, as she gazed at Jisoo, then she returned her composure and checked everything that she had suggested.

"Good job, I didn't know you were so good at observing things." she tells her with a smile on her lips. 

Yes! She impressed Jennie!

"She's good in a lot of things believe me. When she returns to her full form, the Legion's going to wish they didn't mess with her." Bambam says, patting Jisoo on the back, "But for now, we're going to treat you like a newbie. It isn't everyday I can do that to you."

Jisoo smiled, she wasn't used to such high praise from people. At least she wasn't useless like what Lisa said.

"Now, the problem is that Infernal guard. I think we can load them up on some sleeping gas, get them to pass out for a bit." Jennie suggests.

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Bambam agrees.

"Same. You agree too Luca, right?" Lisa says as Luca purrs contentedly. 

"I dunno, I have a bad feeling it might turn out like that giant snake thing in the cave." Jisoo tells her hesitantly.

"Jisoo, that doesn't happen often. That was a rare occurrence, mainly because I underestimated the size of that creature. Here, we're only after a human. No matter how skilled they are, they can't fight off the power of sleeping gas." Jennie assures her, and Bambam and Lisa nods in agreement.

She should really agree to what they said, since it was three against one. But something inside told her that it would not be that easy. But since all of them agreed that it was the best option, she decided to shut up. Anyway, what did she know? She still could barely fight, much more suggest something she was not certain of. Maybe she was just traumatized with what happened in Kathmandu that's why she felt uneasy.

The three of them started planning it out and Jisoo sat down, listened and tried to absorb everything. 

Bambam then asked Jennie something that had Jisoo's heart pounding.

"Jen, I just wanted to ask, will you be bringing Jisoo with you?"

The three of them looked at her.

"I was thinking about that honestly. I don't know, she is still not fit enough for this type of mission." Jennie answered.

Jisoo's heart dropped.

"Who knows, she might be useful. She was able to ascertain the path we had to take in order for us to get to the vault." Bambam reasoned out.

"I don't know, I'm apprehensive because there is an Infernal guarding the vault. Once they know it's Jisoo, I am sure they will stop at nothing in order to try and take her with them." Jennie says, she did make sense, and right now she was pretty much a liability.

Lisa sighed and stood up, and looked at Jisoo up and down, "Hey you, you think you're ready for this type of mission?"

Jisoo was taken back by surprise by her question.

"Who, me?"

"Yah! Obviously I am talking to you!" Lisa points at her. "Do you think you're ready?"

"I...I don't know. I'm not so sure if I am." she answers honestly.

Lisa puts her face in front of hers and narrowed her eyes, "But you want to go? I can feel it."

"I mean, yeah, I do. But if having me is going to cause problems, then I rather not risk it."

"Hmm.." Lisa gazes at her thoughtfully, then turns around and walks towards the other end of the room, "I guess it couldn't be helped."

She suddenly turns and throws her knife towards Jisoo's face. No one was prepared for it, and she knew Jennie and Bambam were not quick enough to stop this. 

Her heart was beating fast, she could feel the blood pumping through her veins. She was going to die and nobody could save her in time.

As if in slow motion, she saw the knife zoom towards her, and the only thing she could do was to try and cover her face, willing with all of her might that the knife would somehow be stopped by someone, anyone, including Lisa herself. 

Maybe she wasn't really on their side, what was her reason to try and kill her? Why was she here in the first place?

But she realized, more than anything, that she wanted to live. It was so strong that she closed her eyes and hoped that the knife would miss. 

After what seemed like eternity, she heard gasps, and Lisa laughing loudly in the background. Why wasn't she hit yet? Did someone manage to stop the weapon from getting to her in time?

Slowly, she opened her eyes as she tried to see what was going on. To her surprise, she saw the knife being suspended in mid-air, a bluish smoke surrounding it. What was even more baffling was that the smoke was coming out of her right hand. She immediately tried to check on it to see what was happening, and the knife clattered harmlessly on the floor, the smoke disappearing like it never existed in the first place. 

Jisoo stared at her hand, she had no idea what had just happened. Did she unconsciously use magic to stop the knife from hitting her?

Without warning, Jennie charged Lisa and pinned her to the wall, her eyes glowering in anger. She was obviously not amused with what the latter had just pulled off. But the girl continued grinning as if she had witnessed the funniest thing ever.

Bambam immediately went to Jennie's side and held her shoulder.

"What the fuck was that?" Jennie asked Lisa angrily.

"Jennie, let her go, I will deal with her myself." Bambam tells her calmly.

"No, she tried to harm my ward! How would you know she isn't a traitor?" she says, seething.

"She isn't, I assure you. But she's an idiot."

"Hey, it worked didn't it? You guys talk as if she's this super amazing being, plus she's the Avatar of Fim. I had to test it out. We all know if you're in a life and death situation, your powers are forced to come out whether you like it or not. Her's did, and I think she can handle herself if we bring her with us." says Lisa casually, as if Jennie was not contemplating murdering her right then and there.

"And what if her powers didn't come out? How are you going to explain that to me?" Jennie asked as she tightened her grip on Lisa.

"Oh come on, do you think I'd use a real weapon? That's just a duplicate using my wind powers. The moment it hits, it disappears, as if it doesn't exist."

Jennie still didn't believe a thing she said. 

"I mean, if you don't trust me, pick it up and see for yourself."

Jisoo stood up and tried to pick up the weapon, and like what Lisa said, it disappeared.

"See?" she tells Jennie smugly.

"God Lisa, you are going to get us killed one of these days." Bambam muttered as Jennie finally let go of her, "I am really sorry about her, she is an idiot. She's useful, but can be a handful. She can't sit still, she sucks at stealth and I have no idea why she decided to become a thief. But she can be trusted and is a good person." he explained to both Jennie and Jisoo as Lisa dusted herself off.

"I still think you should bring Joosi..."

"Jisoo." Jennie and Jisoo corrected her at the same time.

"...yeah, Jisoo whatever. Bambam is right, she can be useful, and we don't really know what is in that vault except for an Infernal. We need all the hands we can get." she tells them with conviction. Luca meowed in response.

Jisoo looked at Jennie expectantly, who seemed to take her time in making a decision.

"Well, what do you think Jen?" Bambam asked.

Jennie sighed, "I think for once, I will listen to an idiot."

*************************

They all decided to head back as inconspicuously as possible, as what they were doing and planning was highly dangerous. If anyone got a wind of it, they were certain that their plan would be doomed and there wouldn't be another chance as good as this to take the key.

The heist was set to happen after three days, when the key would be placed in the city's main palace knows as Blackbeard's Reign. 

Jennie made sure to brief Jisoo about what they would be doing, and helped train her everyday in the inn's secret basement room.

She noticed that her reaction time was getting quicker by the day, and she was able to connect basic attacks unlike before. Jennie would train her hand-to-hand combat in the morning and weapon skills in the afternoon. Magic was off limits for now because she told Jisoo that wasn't her area of expertise and they should wait until they get to the College of Mages.

Finally, after a few days of waiting, they were ready. 

Jennie decided that the both of them should wear their soldier uniforms during the heist itself since it helped conceal them in the dark. On their way there, they still wore their disguises and civilian clothes so they wouldn't arouse suspicion. 

Once the four of them finally met up at their meeting spot, they immediately shed their civilian clothes. Lisa and Bambam were wearing black outfits as well, which made sense since they all were trying to do a stealth mission.

Bambam then faced Lisa and held on to her shoulders.

"I need you to promise me that you will not create any unnecessary noise, you will not directly challenge people and you will not in any circumstances, summon Leo. Are we clear?"

"But Leee-oh!" Lisa whined.

"Lisa, are we clear?" Bambam asked her sternly this time. Lisa gave him a pout.

"Fiiiine, fucking Leo anti." she muttered. 

After that discussion, they all made sure that the equipment they needed was all complete and that they were working properly. So far, so good.

Jennie then stood tall as she checked her watch for the time.

"Alright, they just changed their shifts now. Let's go and get to work as quick and as silent as possible."

The three of them nodded.

They went to the area where the three guards were found. Lisa then summoned Luca and commanded him to create a distraction for them.

Luca then went to work, walking around the guards who became curious about his presence.

"Awww, isn't he cute?" one of the guards gushed.

"I wonder if this cat is lost or something. He seems too tame to not have any owners." the second one asked. 

As they were busy ogling at Luca, Lisa, Bambam and Jennie silently went in and knocked all three guards at once.

"Easy." Bambam quipped as he put down one of them slowly and got the ropes ready so they could scale the wall.

"Good job, Luca." Lisa says as he patted him on the head and gave him some treats. Luca meowed happily, and she did the summon spell where she made him disappear into thin air. 

Once the ropes were ready, they began to scale the wall one by one, until they were finally on the palace's rooftops. They then crowded around a window, which seemed to be locked.

"I got this." Lisa says as she used a needle-like item to pick the lock. After a few seconds, they heard a click, indicating that she had successfully opened the window. She immediately pulled it up, and they were able to get in without being noticed.

After a few minutes, they reached their destination, which was a small broom closet. From there, they would be able to enter the vents.

Since Bambam was the tallest, he was the one assigned to take the vent cover and help them climb up. After all three were inside, they pulled him up, and they closed it once again so they would avoid any suspicion of someone being there in the first place.

"Were almost there, just hang tight." Bambam whispered as he led them towards the area where the vault was hidden.

Once there, they checked the vents windows, and sure enough, somebody was squatting at the center, eating what looked like a piece of bread. Bambam motioned to them and pointed towards the person.

"I'm guessing that's the Infernal guard." he whispered.

"Yes, it looks like no one else is around. You were right, he was the only one assigned here." Jennie responded, "Well, I guess this is as good a time as any to release the sleeping gas. Put on your masks." she commanded.

They did as they were told and immediately put on the masks that were small enough to cover both their noses and mouths. Once Jennie was sure that everyone was protected from the gas, she quickly took something from her bag. Jisoo noticed that it looked like a small grenade, which she guessed worked like a smoke bomb or a flashbang.

She pulled out the pin and threw it into the room, alerting the one who was squatting on the floor. The guard tried to get up, but when he tried to, it looked like he couldn't stand up properly. A few seconds more, he began to close his eyes, until he fell down fast asleep on the cemented floor. Jennie put her hand up to tell them to wait. Once the gas dissipated, she gave them a thumbs up, indicating that it was okay to remove their masks. 

They did so, and everyone was smiling happily, they were halfway done with their mission without any hitches. 

However, Jisoo still felt that uneasiness within the pit of her stomach. She decided to ignore it, it was most likely nothing, and they were almost home free.

Each of them jumped down, and then Bambam was finally face to face with the vault. He saw the key inside and smiled, "Alright, this may take a bit of time, but I am confident I will be able to break this in no time." he says, rubbing his fingers together in anticipation. 

"It's best that we tie that Infernal guard down, just in case." Lisa says, as she kicks the guard's hand.

"I agree." Jisoo chimed in.

Jennie smirked, "Still not over that incident in Kathmandu huh?"

Jisoo shrugged, "Better safe than sorry."

Jennie rolled her eyes as she got more rope from her bag, "If it helps you feel safer, fine, I'll tie him down."

As Bambam started with breaking the code, Jennie and Lisa pulled up the Infernal. She was about to put his hands on his back, when suddenly she felt him twitch.

Before any of them could react, the Infernal guard spun around and had Jennie within his clutches, his sword inches from her neck. 

Everyone of them froze as they put up a combat stance. He chuckled.

"Well now, I was really looking forward for a good showdown, but you simply came at me with sleeping gas? How juvenile. I just wanted you to know that I am immune to such things, not surprising, being a Warlock experiment and all. And there's four of you against little 'ole me? That's kind of unfair don't you think?"

None of them said a word, it made him smile wider. 

"Let's balance the scales shall we? Hey Amber, we got some guests!"

Somebody from the shadows came in, this one had short hair and was wearing a mask around her face.

"About time, I was getting bored."


	15. The Power of the Infernals

**Jennie's POV**

The sword that was being held at her neck was starting to hurt. She observed everything that was happening with her eyes, and was caught by surprise when she saw that there was another Infernal Guard hiding in the shadows.

The guy holding her was solidly built, and had a huge scar on his right face. She could sense that one wrong move from her and he wasn't going to think twice about ending her, so she decided not fight back. The best thing she could do right now was to study the situation, and hope that Bambam and Lisa had something up their sleeves.

"Do you still have some food with you?" the guy holding her asked, "They ruined my wonderful meal." he complained.

"We should focus on the task at hand, Siwon." the one called Amber answered calmly.

"Oh come on, these are small fry, we don't need to spend too much time on them."

"You forget they have the Avatar." she reminded him, which caused him to laugh.

"Isn't she basically useless right now? Hey Avatar, want to get your girlfriend right here?" the guy named Siwon taunted Jisoo, "Come on, use your powers and try and take her back."

His hold on Jennie tightened and she could feel the sharp blade go through her skin, a bit of blood now flowing down her neck.

She could see Jisoo clench her fists tighter and grit her teeth.

"Instead of talking why don't you let her go? It's me you want, right?" Jisoo answered, her gaze at them both cold and unwavering, which Jennie was not used to seeing from her.

"Siwon, come on. We don't have all day." Amber warned. Siwon sniffed, it was obvious he wasn't too pleased about being bossed around, but he loosened his grip on her and looked at his companion.

"Fine, what do you want me to do with this little thing?" he says, obviously referring to Jennie.

"Let her go, we don't need her. Let's take the Avatar and get out of here."

"Isn't she the best Black Label Ops member from YG?" he asked her uncertainly, Amber nodded.

"It's not a problem."

The nerve of them looking down on her!

Siwon shrugged and pushed Jennie towards her companions, "Okay, let's get to work!" he says as he cracks his knuckles and makes a beeline towards Jisoo. He was blocked by all three fighters. 

Siwon looked back towards Amber.

"They're not letting me through." he says casually, as if it was the funniest thing he had witnessed.

"Like that has stopped you before."

"Eh." he shrugged and continued walking towards them when Jennie attacked him with her Bo, which he easily blocked. He took a step back and Lisa teleported behind him, ready to stab him on his neck. She was about to hit him when she was blasted with a dark power that emitted from the one called Amber, and Lisa went sprawling down on the floor.

Bambam was quick to do the same, this time, with the girl, but she muttered something, obviously casting a spell. Seconds later, he screamed as he held his head in agony, his knife clattering to the ground.

Jennie then realized what they were dealing with.

A shadow priest.

She wasn't even using her shadow form yet. This was bad. Shadow priests were priests who had decided to use the darker side of their power, and were masters of magic and mental manipulation. 

There were not a lot of them, as when they used too much of the ancient, corruptive influence of their magic, most of them were driven mad. But dealing with one was definitely troublesome, especially since they didn't have the services of a healer, who could've easily dispelled their corruption.

Siwon was about to stomp on Lisa, but she quickly escaped to the side. Bambam had recovered a bit too, and had moved back as well. Jennie went in front of Jisoo, blocking her view from the both of them. She realized this was no time to hold back. 

She had to fight seriously.

She put her staff in front of her and put her palms together. Concentrating hard, she summoned up her fire magic and turned them into a shot of pure energy from the inside. A few seconds later, people could see steam emit from her body, and her pupils showing a shade of orange in them. 

"Bam, Lisa, you deal with the priest, I'll handle this one. You guys are quicker and will have more luck taking her down." she commanded, and they both nodded.

"Don't hold back, use everything you have if need be." 

The guy named Siwon grinned at her menacingly, "Are you sure you want to play with me, little girl?"

"Rather than talk, show me what you've got." Jennie said, issuing him a challenge. The guy smirked in amusement.

"I'll fight too." she heard Jisoo say from behind her.

"No."

"You can't stop me, I'll help as much as I can. What was all that training for anyway?"

"They are after you, idiot."

"I know, but I can't let you keep on protecting me. I have to learn how to fight back, even if I am still on this level." Jisoo told her, and she could sense the determination in her voice.

Jennie knew she was right, but she was feeling a bit apprehensive, because the girl was still pretty much a novice with her fighting ability. But she was also aware how fast she absorbed their lessons. 

"Alright, but make sure you don't put yourself in danger."

Jisoo smiled, "I'll do my best." she then went into a fighting stance, and it seems she had decided not to use her weapons. She wasn't surprised, Jisoo was more adept with hand-to-hand combat for the moment. She wasn't used to her twin swords yet, which was understandable. Learning one weapon was difficult enough, wielding two was a whole new experience in itself.

"We could all avoid the hassle and just hand the avatar over to us. Nobody would be harmed, that I guarantee." Amber told them.

"If you want to get her, make sure you'll do it over my dead body." Jennie challenges her, her gaze steely. Amber grimaced.

"Then I am left with no choice."

She then summons her mage's staff out of thin air and bangs the tip on the floor. She closes her eyes and utters a spell, and within seconds, she was covered with a dark, purplish hue all around her body. 

She was now in her shadow form, which meant her spells were deadlier and much more effective.

"Power word: Fortitude." she says as she casts a buff on herself and her companion. Jennie knew that spell well, it was to make sure that they can take more damage than usual, making them sturdier and more difficult to take down.

Lisa and Bambam then looked at each other, communicating with their eyes. They attacked simultaneously. 

As they teleported to her side, Amber braced herself and quickly uttered, "Shadow word: Pain." as she used her right hand to hit Bambam with it, and then used another shadowy bolt on Lisa with her left. Bambam was immediately sprawled on the floor, gashes could be found all around his body while Lisa was thrown back towards the wall.

Jennie couldn't keep checking up on them as Siwon neared them. He then clicked on something with his sword and it grew bigger in size. She could see the veins popping out of his body and she braced for his attack. 

He slashed his sword down in front of her and she dodged, but to her surprise, he was able to recover quickly, despite knowing how heavy his weapon was.

It was as if he was wielding a short sword, which was unnerving. 

He instantly slashed the sword back again towards her, and thanks to her extra fire chi, she was able to back away quickly without taking any damage.

Jisoo had sprinted towards him and landed a solid kick to his face, which staggered him a bit. Jennie followed suit with a quick uppercut to his stomach. She heard him grunt, but he still was able to move and had elbowed Jisoo on the face as she tried to land a punch.

He then tried to grab Jennie, who maneuvered her way towards his back and used her legs to tie his neck with a choke hold. He held her legs to try and remove her from there, but Jisoo was able to recover and landed a series of punches towards his stomach and finished it with an uppercut.

To their surprise, they heard him laugh.

"Yes, yes! Give me more PAIN!" he shouts. Jennie noticed that it felt like he was getting stronger, to the point that she could no longer fight back the hold she had on him. She quickly let go and jumped back down to safety. 

She noticed he now had a manic look on his face.

He tunneled his way towards Jennie, which she didn't expect, and bumped into her, causing her to grit in pain as she fell down to the ground. In no time, he was now on top of her and was about to stab her, but Jisoo had kicked him on the back causing him to pause for a bit. 

Using the few seconds that the girl had given to her, Jennie rolled her way out to safety.

She didn't understand, why was his strength and speed increasing?

But she had no time to think as he moved again to attack her with his blade. 

She and Jisoo were taking turns dodging and attacking him at the same time, but as the duration of the fight got longer, he seemed much more faster than before. His eyes were now gleaming, and he had a maniacal look on his face.

Bambam and Lisa were not having much luck either, they were fast, but the priest was skilled. He thwarted all of their attacks, making them look like newbies. 

Jisoo and Jennie regrouped, the girl was breathing hard, she was not used to long fights, but it seems her resolve did not falter. She looked at Jennie with a grim expression.

"I think he has powers like the Hulk." she told her. 

Jennie gave her a puzzled look.

"What?"

"The Hulk. He's this fictional superhero in our sector. Basically, the more you hit him, the angrier he got, and the angrier he got, the stronger he became. I noticed every time we attacked him, his powers only leveled up."

Jennie realized that she was right.

"So the only way to take him out is to make sure he gets knocked out, or kill him." Jennie says, now understanding what to do as everything sinks in.

"Yes, but apparently not with sleeping gas." Jisoo says, with a small smile on her face.

"Alright, yes, you were right about that. I'm sorry."

Jisoo chuckled. 

"So what do you have in mind fearless leader?"

"Well, we'll just have to beat him until he goes down." she says, as she fired up her staff. She was going to up the stakes.

"I didn't know you could do that."

"I can, but I don't use it too much because it uses a lot of my stamina. To be honest, I am low on that so I avoid using my magic as much as I can."

Jisoo nodded in understanding, "I see. So it's like you're a character who doesn't have much mana. I guess that's balanced because you're more of a fighter." she mumbles.

Jennie was pretty clueless about what she was talking about, so she just decided to ignore it.

"You ready?"

Jisoo grinned at her, "As much as I'll ever be."

They looked towards Siwon who was already sprinting towards them. They dodged as he slammed his sword on the floor, causing the cement to break into bits and then charges towards Jennie. It was clear that the guy really wanted to take her out first, after all they wanted Jisoo alive.

She blocked his hit with her staff and kicked him on the face, this time a surge of fire went out of her foot, instantly causing a burn on his face.

Jisoo didn't give him a second to breathe and attacked him head on, peppering punches and kicks all around his body. He tried to hit her, but she was faster than him. 

To her credit, it wasn't only Siwon who had powered up, but Jisoo as well. Jennie noticed that her attacks were becoming much more faster and efficient.

She shook away those thoughts as she went in, both of them looking at each other and somehow understanding what they needed to do. 

Jisoo took out one of her swords, and in unison, they attacked Siwon using their weapons with a precision that was surprising, even to Jennie herself. It was as if they had been doing this together for a long time, and every hit she had, Jisoo responded with vigor.

She had to give it to the guy, he was tough, but she knew he wasn't going to stay on his feet for long. With Jisoo's sword and the burns caused by her flame staff, it seems he was losing momentum. 

In an act of desperation, he stomped his foot on the floor, causing it to rupture, making them lose their balance momentarily.

He was about to attack again using his sword when Jisoo blocked it, quickly giving a nod to Jennie who got the signal, and then hit him hard at the base of his chin using her Bo. This caused him to fall backwards, and finally hit the ground. 

The both of them stood up immediately, ready for anything, when they realized he wasn't getting up. 

They were both breathing hard, it was a tough fight, and if Jisoo didn't realize how his powers worked, she was certain that she would have been dead by now.

They looked at each other and smiled, Jennie gaining a new sense of respect for the girl. She wasn't too bad.

But then, they heard Lisa scream as her mind gets attacked again, and they see Bambam cowering in the corner. 

"We gotta help them." Jennie says as Jisoo nodded and they both ran quickly towards them. 

Amber saw them and clicked her tongue, "Siwon, seriously, I wish you would use your brain more when you fight."

She then summoned something out of the ground, a creature that had the same color as the aura around the priest, but didn't seem to have a solid body. 

It immediately attacked the both of them, screaming like a banshee and making Jennie's head hurt. It felt like needles were being slowly implanted inside of it.

"Shadow Word: Searing Nightmare."

Suddenly, the creature wrapped itself around her and Jennie could feel inexplicable pain surrounding her body. Not only that, she was seeing horrible images closing in on her and she could hear herself scream. It was the worst pain she had ever experienced in her life.

When she thought it could get any worse, everything subsided and she realized she was a trembling mess on the ground.

But she was not prepared for what she saw. Jisoo was being held immobile, but she was doing her best to try and reach the priest. It was obvious she was trying to fight back the spell being casted on her.

"Shadow Word: Mind Flay." Amber chanted, but Jennie could tell she was having a difficult time. Sweat was already dripping down from her forehead. 

Jisoo screamed but held her ground. How was she able to fight the mental attacks the priest was giving to her?

"I knew you were trouble. Well then, let's up the ante. Shadow Word: Mind Control." Amber chants once again as she points to Lisa, who suddenly snapped in attention.

"Attack." Amber commanded. 

Like a gust of wind, Lisa was suddenly in front of Jisoo and punched her on the face, causing her to get knocked down. Jennie stood up, but Lisa instantly teleported to her back, and stabbed her below her ribcage, making her scream in pain. Lisa was about to attack again, when Jennie immediately blocked her with her Bo. 

They began to duel, and Jennie was having a hard time holding a mind-controlled Lisa down. She was not being held back, that's for sure, and she was certain that the priest had used a certain spell to keep Bambam contained, because he was still crying in the corner, like he was seeing something so terrible in front of him.

The pain in her side was not helping, but Jisoo was able to come to her aid immediately. Jennie gritted her teeth as she tried to parry Lisa's attack.

"Jisoo! You must go and attack the priest, you have to break the mind control!" she told him, and the girl understood immediately.

She saw her run towards the priest who fired shadow bolts towards the girl, but to Jennie's amazement, she was able to dodge all of them.

She had to concentrate, Lisa might be noisy and annoying, but she was no pushover. She was tall too, which added an extra reach to her attacks. 

Suddenly, Lisa summoned Leo, which Jennie didn't expect. Leo was looking incredibly grumpy and didn't want to move. But Lisa had casted something at him, making Leo meow in agony. 

"Lisa, you're hurting Leo!" she shouted at her.

Her opponent was looking at Leo with a blank stare, "Fight." she said in a robotic voice.

Leo did attack, but to Jennie's surprise, he had went for the priest who was caught by surprise at the cats sudden growth when it pounced at her. 

When that happened, Lisa fainted, and Leo bit the priest as if there was no tomorrow, making her scream in agony.

"Vile creature, this should teach you! Shadow word: Damnation!" at that, Leo growled loudly as his eyes bulged out and he stopped attacking the priest.

"Useless pawn! Shadow word: Death!" she shouts angrily and points at Lisa, but Jennie ran in front of her just in time as the spell hit her instead with full force, causing her body to go rigid. 

"Jennie!" she heard Jisoo scream as her body went into shock, and suddenly, an excruciating amount of pain began to rip through her insides. 

The pain made her open her mouth into a silent scream. Her body shook uncontrollably and every inch of her felt like it was burning. It was as if this feeling was going to last forever, and she didn't know if she could take anymore.

But at long last, the pain left, and her body went limp as she fell down to the ground. Her breathing was shallow and she could barely move, but somehow she was still alive.

With the three of them out of commission, nobody was there to stop them from taking Jisoo away.

The priest breathed out and gave Jisoo a hard stare, "That was a ridiculous amount of trouble you have caused me and my companion, but I knew we would win in the end. Now, come along if you don't want to experience more pain."

Jisoo wasn't saying anything. She just stood there rooted on the floor, her fists clenched.

Amber turned her head as she looked at Siwon, "Geez, now I have to wake you up, you moron. I should have gone with someone else, but I guess this is fine."

She then walked towards Jisoo, Jennie was just observing them as she couldn't do anything.

"You killed her." she heard Jisoo say darkly.

"That I did. I gave her a chance, didn't I? But she wasted it."

Jennie wanted to shout to Jisoo, to tell her to stop being an idiot and check on her first before concluding that she was dead.

"You killed her." Jisoo said again, this time, her voice was deeper. For some reason, a shiver ran down through Jennie's spine.

Jisoo looked up and her eyes were all black, and then suddenly, her two swords were surrounded by a black flame, making the priest look at her in surprise.

The girl looks at Amber, "I am going to make you suffer." 


	16. The Fury of Wrath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was just a pretty short update, so I hope you don't mind guys!

**Jennie's POV**

Jennie couldn't move. She couldn't call anyone out. She was just lying there, watching everything transpire before her eyes. She had a feeling that this was another manifestation of Jisoo's sins, which managed to somehow regain her dormant abilities.

She could see Amber watching the other girl with apprehension, as she walked slowly towards her. Jisoo's twin swords were engulfed in black flames, an ability Jennie had never seen in her life before. What was even more curious was the fact that it wasn't heat that was emanating from it, but the cold. 

She had heard about frostfire, in fact she had seen it before her own eyes at the Mage's Council, but it wasn't black. There was no such thing as that, except now.

But she didn't feel relieved at that thought, in fact she felt scared, afraid even. Not for Jisoo, but what Jisoo could be capable of in this state.

Amber sneered at Jisoo, "I'm waiting for you to make the first move. Take your time, rest assured the more you do, the the more likely your companion over there will go insane." she says as she nods her head towards Bambam, who still wasn't released from whatever horror he was facing.

As soon as he said that, Jisoo charged towards her at a speed that was almost inhuman, making Amber flinch for just a split second before she quickly tightened the hold on her staff and pointed her hand towards Jisoo's direction.

"Shadow Wo-" she was about to chant when Jisoo cast a non-verbal frost spell towards her throat, making Amber stop and cough as she held it in surprise. The girl had effectively silenced her chanting. 

That's when Jennie saw the fear grow in the shadow priest's eyes as Jisoo halted in front of her. Before she could react, the older girl had sliced her opponent's left hand in half, thus rendering her staff useless. Jennie almost gasped at the sudden movement, and how brutally it was done. Amber's shadow form disappeared, and her helplessness was mirrored on her face.

Jisoo gave Amber a maniacal grin as she started slashing small cuts all over her body, making the other girl back away as her face slowly filled with agony. Her wounds had burns in them, and all she could do was scream in silence because she couldn't use her voice.

As Jisoo continued her attack, she could feel Amber almost slipping away, but Jisoo stopped and held her by the hair, and to Jennie's surprise, she saw her friend heal her opponent's wounds.

She didn't even know the girl could do that!

And that's when she understood.

Jisoo was not going to kill Amber.

She was going to torture her.

She was going to make her beg for her own death.

That sent a cold shiver through Jennie. Whatever sin was being manifested right now, it was fueling her anger and rage, and it almost felt like it had a life of it's own.

Jisoo then held Amber's throat once she saw she was completely healed. As she held the girl up in the air, she began to stab her slowly somewhere near her stomach, and Jennie saw Amber grit her teeth in pain.

She had to do something, she had to stop this! Yes, they were opponents, but deep inside her, she didn't like watching Jisoo do this because that was not her. 

She also knew, even if they hadn't known each other for too long, that the girl would want someone to stop her.

"Jisoo..." she tried to call out, but her voice was too weak, just as her body was. She felt totally wrecked, the spell the priest casted on her was devastating. But she had to try.

She had to. She wasn't Jennie Kim for nothing.

Gritting her teeth, she willed her limbs to move. At first, it wasn't working, nothing she did helped, but she refused to give up.

"Come on Jennie, just one pinky, just one fucking pinky!" she whispered to herself as she saw Jisoo engulf Amber in flames. She had to hurry.

Finally, with all her remaining strength, she made her pinky move, and she knew she could do that to the rest of her limbs as well.

Slowly but surely, she began to make herself stand up.

At long last, Jennie managed to get back up on her feet, but her knees felt wobbly. She closed her eyes as she focused on the task at hand: get to Jisoo before she does something she might regret.

When she opened them again, she saw Jisoo trying to heal girl's burns. It was a frightening cycle, one where you wouldn't be the one in the receiving end of that.

She pushed herself to walk, even if it was agony. Her body was screaming in pain, and each step was like hot coals being burned into her soles. But she relented. She had to get to Jisoo, and that made her resolve all the more stronger.

She could see Amber shaking in fear, Jisoo's attacks were relentless, and Jennie felt she was just starting. 

This time, Jisoo held the priest's face and forced her tongue out. That maniacal grin grew even wider, and she saw tears began to stream down Amber's eyes. It was horrible to witness.

Jennie made herself move faster.

"Please, no more. I surrender." she heard Amber say pitifully. 

"I didn't say it was enough. The pain you feel isn't enough to pay for mine." she heard Jisoo say with that deep voice, like it wasn't hers. 

"Please..." Amber begged, but she could see the other girl was not stopping anytime soon.

Jisoo was about to cut her tongue when Jennie got close enough to engulf her into a hug from behind, effectively making sure her arms would not be able to move. She didn't have enough strength, and she hoped against hope that Jisoo would not turn on her.

"Jisoo, I'm here, I'm still alive." Jennie whispered, "Lisa is still alive, and so is Bambam. Please, stop this. We have won."

She felt Jisoo's body tense, "I need to make her pay."

"Pay for what? Jisoo, it is over."

"I need to make her pay for my pain. It's...it's not stopping. I need to make it stop." 

Jennie gripped her arms, "I promise, if you stop this so will the pain. You promised me right? You promised me that you would not let this control you. You are better than this."

"I-but Jennie was the one who told me that. Are you pretending to be her? Do you want me to kill you?" she says, her voice chillingly calculating.

Jennie loosened her grip, and held her by the shoulders, "Turn around and face me."

Thankfully, Jisoo did as she was told, "Look at me Jisoo, it's me. It's Jennie. I'm alive."

Jisoo was looking at her confused.

"But Jennie is dead."

"No, I'm not. I'm here, in front of you, telling you that this is not you." she held her face, "I would never let you harm anyone like that. Plus, I just don't die easily, I can't. We still have a lot of unfinished business to take care of."

It seemed to be working. Jisoo's face started to calm down, her black eyes were regaining their original color. She saw Amber do a release symbol, and Bambam slumped to the floor.

"That's it, listen to my voice, I'm here Jisoo." she says in the most soothing way possible. In her peripheral vision, she could see Bambam slowly getting up and trying to get to Lisa.

"Jennie? I thought you were..." Jisoo says as her eyes started to clear up.

She smiled, "I'm fine. You should have checked my body first before making your own conclusions. You are such an idiot sometimes."

After a few seconds, Jisoo regained her old self and she slumped into Jennie, who tried to hold onto her as much as possible, she still felt too weak.

What she didn't expect was Siwon to get up and run towards Amber. Taking her in his arms, they both looked their way

"Do you know why Wrath is the only sin you can't take out by choice? Because it is built into you, you will understand why when the time comes." Amber says, as she spits out blood from her mouth. "Also, I would like to warn you about the keys. Yes, they can help people, but at what cost?They are cursed, but as with every curse, it can be broken if you are able to fulfill it's requirements. For this, yes it can heal people, even if they are on the brink of death. But the catch? The catch is, it transfers to another person. Who it is, you will never know and you certainly won't expect. I'll give your regards to our leader, Avatar of Fim."

With that, Siwon takes a final look at them, and leaves the area. Jennie sighs, finally kneeling down on the floor. Jisoo was too exhausted, and she too falls to the ground.

Bambam went to the safe and started unlocking it, after a few tries, he was able to get the key. 

What they didn't expect was a few minutes after, the place began to be swarmed by soldiers.

Jennie as too out of it to care. Slowly closing her eyes, she finally let herself give in to the darkness.


	17. The Connection and the Curse

**Jisoo's POV**

Jisoo felt herself slowly waking up. Her cheek was resting on a cold, hard floor, and she was trying to remember what had happened earlier. Her eyes were still closed as she did her best to recall the events, but at the end of it all, she still drew a blank. 

Her eyes fluttered open as she tried to see where she was. To her surprise, she found herself in a huge cavernous room, lit by many torches.

She also noticed that her companions were not in sight.

 _Was I captured?_ she thought to herself as she slowly got up and looked around, a surge of panic rippling through her. She realized her weapons were gone, and for some reason, she was left alone in this room. 

As she turned to look at the walls, she noticed weird, disfigured murals were carved upon them, and they were in different states of pain. It felt like a warning, so she moved up towards the end of the room to try and see if there was a way for her to escape.

As she neared the end, she caught sight of a single throne, which basically looked like the same ones she saw in movies or even animes. For some reason, she felt a strange pull to it, like it was calling out to her. As her distance to the throne got closer, a door opened nearby and in came some people, walking towards where she was.

She froze in place, unsure what this meant, but as they got nearer, they didn't acknowledge her presence. They just simply stood at a spot that seemed to be meant for them.

"What happened this time?" one of them, a blonde short girl asked as she tinkered a dagger that looked similar to Lisa's. 

"They failed a mission. That's what I know, and the boss is angry." a guy with a blonde man-bun answered her. She heard someone cackling up ahead, but she couldn't make out his features.

"It was inevitable. I knew it would happen, because they couldn't work as a team."

Someone snorted beside him, a female voice, "As if you'd be any different."

"That is why I never work IN a team. It's only an added burden, and people tend to disappoint."

"Everyone be quiet, the boss is on his way, and he doesn't want to hear any of your bickering." a taller, slender guy in the middle, told them off, and everyone stopped. It seems he was the captain of the group.

What Jisoo couldn't understand was why they weren't even batting an eye as she stood there. Who were these people?

Suddenly, the door opened again, and in came Amber, who had a lot of bandages all around her. Jisoo noticed that her right arm was gone. Siwon was following from behind her as well.

_So I have been captured. But why aren't they doing anything?_

She was about to say something when suddenly, somebody in all black armor and a hood that covered their face, came in and quickly sat on the throne. All the people in the room bowed to show their respect.

Everyone became quiet afterwards. She felt the tension in the air as they stood in attention, waiting to hear what the person on the throne had to say.

The armor clad leader leaned their head on their hand as he surveyed the group in front of them, then he began to speak in a deep voice.

"I expected more from you, yet I still see failure after failure. How difficult is it to capture one person?" he said, his tone calm, yet there was a veiled threat to it.

Amber had moved forward, limping a little, and bowed deeply once again, "I apologize master, I did realize how strong the Avatar of Fim actually was when the sin of wrath had manifested inside of her. It is of no excuse and we should have been more prepared."

Siwon also moved forward and bowed, "We should have done better, master. I'll do anything to make up to our mistakes."

Jisoo didn't understand, she was here! Why are they saying they haven't captured her?

"Hey, why are you treating me like I don't exist!" she told them, but nobody made a move.

She was getting frustrated, was this one of their plans to make her bend to their will? If it was, it was only annoying her further. She neared the leader and stood right in front of her.

"Hey! Why are you ignoring me on purpose?"

Still nothing.

"HEY!" she finally shouted while punching the leader's face, but to her horror, it went through her like air! She fell down due to the force of her own punch, and when she recovered, she was still shocked about what happened.

Was she dead?

That was the only explanation!

She saw the leader stand up, then without warning, he casted a black flamed-ring towards both Siwon and Amber and lifted them up in the air. He then turned his hand and closed his fist, making both of them scream in agony.

"You are a part of my Infernal Guard, trained to be even more efficient than soldiers, and you dare come back here with this excuse? PATHETIC!" his voice boomed throughout the room.

Jisoo saw the rest of them not make any move or show any emotion, from there she understood, the Blood Legion's leader was powerful, very powerful that not even a number of them dared to question him.

She didn't know what to do, was she really dead? What happened to Lisa and Bambam? More importantly, what happened to Jennie? Had she failed to protect them?

As she was thinking all these things, she felt a warm hand clasp at her shoulder, and when she turned around to check who it was, she saw a very familiar face. A face she hasn't seen for a long time.

"Dad?" she whispered.

"Let's get out of here, kiddo."

She followed him without asking him any questions. She felt that he would give her the answers once they arrived at the destination. If she was seeing him, that meant that she must be in the afterlife.

Finally, they stopped in a field of flowers, and her dad turned around to face her.

"It's been a long time, Jisoo." he tells her.

She smiled, "Yes it has been." 

They both looked at each other, then hugged one another. 

"Jisoo?" she heard a female voice call out to her, and when she let go of her Dad to see who it was, tears began to form in her eyes.

"Mom?"

"Oh baby, I missed you."

Her mom ran towards her and hugged her tightly, Jisoo doing the same to her as well. 

When they finally let go, both of them were crying. Jisoo's dad held the both of them by the shoulder.

"It's good that we have been reunited like this." he says as he looks at her daughter fondly.

"Does that mean...I'm dead?" she asks, almost like a small child. 

Both her parents looked at one another and smiled, "No kiddo, you're very much alive." her dad told her.

Jisoo gave them a puzzled look, "Then, why?"

"You needed to get out of there, you were not supposed to be somewhere near where the leader was. If you stayed a little while longer, they would have sensed your presence." her mom explained to her.

"I don't get it."

Her mom held her face, "It might not be clear now, but the both of you are somehow connected. One day, you will understand why. For now, the only thing that we ask of you, Jisoo, is to be strong. I know it is not easy controlling your sins, especially Wrath. They will become stronger as time goes by, but do what you must to not let them control you."

Jisoo nodded, "I will do my best." she tells her.

"I know you can kiddo, we believe in you. But for now, you need to go home. I'm sure Jennie is very worried." her dad said, "She's waiting for you to wake up."

"For me to wake up?"

"Yes, we don't want her to cry now, do we?"

Jisoo snorted, "Jennie doesn't cry."

Both her parents looked at each other again and gave a knowing smile. 

"Don't make her worry about you too much. Now go, Jisoo. We love you very much." her mom said, as she hugged her for the last time.

"I believe in you." her dad added and hugged her too.

For some reason the both of them became blurry, and everything turned dark once again.

"Mom! Dad!" she screamed as she suddenly got up, sweat glistening all over her body.

"She's awake!" she heard someone shout out.

Her head was pounding again, much more painful than the last one. She held on to her forehead with both hands as the memories about her parents came tumbling in. Finally, the picture that she had formed with Jin was completed.

What she wasn't ready for, aside from the headache, was the boiling anger she felt at the pit of her stomach when she recalled how she found her family dead. Everything taken away from her. She felt like it was almost swallowing her, and she didn't notice how much heat was coming out of her body.

"I'll make them pay." she whispered to herself as she grabbed on to her hair. 

She was going to make that Seungri pay, she had promised that to herself and to her family.

"Jisoo!" she heard someone call out to her, as if from afar.

She looked up and gritted her teeth, a lot of people were surrounding her.

"Her eyes are turning black again, do something!" someone shouted.

"She's heating up!" another one added.

She then felt someone hold her hands.

"Jennie, you're going to get burned!"

"Jisoo! Can you hear me?" she heard the voice again, yet this time, closer. She looked up, she saw familiar cat eyes gaze back at her.

"Jennie, I know who my family's killers are." she tells her, her anger building up.

She felt the girl squeeze her hand, "Look at me, okay?"

She did what she was told and looked into Jennie's eyes. They were so full of worry and concern, but there was a hint of determination in them.

"Jisoo, I know it must be painful, I cannot understand for the life of me what you went through because of their deaths. But you have to stay with me, okay? You have to fight your anger. Please, don't give in to your wrath."

"But he killed them!" she says again, nobody was going to understand her. Nobody knows her pain.

"It was ugly, what he did to them, and you do not deserve it. You don't deserve it one bit. But I know what you deserve."

She was surprised at what Jennie told her, "What do I deserve?" she asked.

"Justice, and to live your life happily without these burdens in you. So, I will do my best to fight together with you, no matter what happens. This I promise you. So please Jisoo, let's fight this together." she tells her, almost pleading.

Jisoo looked down, and then she realized that Jennie's hands were beginning to blister. It somehow sobered her up and the anger that she felt earlier quickly dissipated. 

"Oh my God, I am so sorry!" she says as she lets go of her right away. Everything cleared up and she saw the people who were surrounding her. They were soldiers, and most of them were in uniform.

But after that she felt dizzy, and the throbbing in her head came back at full throttle.

"Shit, I am so sorry, my head is killing me."

"Some memories have returned, I assume." Vince, the innkeeper, told her as she gave her a huge mug.

"Drink this up, it will help ease the pain." he told her as she gave it to her, which she took gratefully. 

"Come along Jennie, let's take care of that burn, shall we?" Sana says, but Jennie didn't seem like she wanted to budge.

"Will she be okay?" she asked.

"Yes, don't worry, our healers will take care of her. Bambam and Lisa should be fine as well. There has been no permanent damage done to anyone, thankfully." Vince assures her.

Jennie looked at her still worried, "You should go, I'm sorry I burned you." Jisoo tells her friend sheepishly.

"It's not your fault, I'm just glad you're okay." the other girl tells her sincerely, "Since you're fine now, I'll go ahead and have myself healed. You rest up, okay?"

Jisoo nodded, "Okay."

"I'll be back, you drink up."

Jisoo watched her leave with Sana, and Vince gave her a small smile.

"These people behind me are our healers. After you drink, you'll pretty much be knocked out. But they'll make sure you'll be back in form a hundred percent." he explains.

She breathes in and slowly drinks the concoction that was made for her.

It was pretty much tasteless, even water had some sort of flavor in it, but this had nothing. But she continued to down it anyway. After she had finished, she felt her eyes droop.

A few seconds later, she was out like a light.

*************************

**Lisa's POV**

It had been one hell of a night, when she woke up, she was surrounded by black uniforms, and people trying to go about making sure she was okay.

She never expected it, but somehow, Bambam had radioed help to Vince and his colleagues and ended up calling for back-up. She was thankful that her best friend was always quick on his feet.

Bambam had also told her that they had retrieved the key, but he seemed to be troubled about something.

Another thing she vaguely remembered was the fact that Jennie had tried saving her life when the shadow priest had tried to cast death on her when the mind control broke. It wasn't very clear, but she knew she owed the girl her life.

She was kinda arrogant, yes, but at the end of it all, she was a good person.

Jisoo, thankfully, had not been kidnapped despite the failure that they had gone through in protecting her and trying to retrieve the key. She might not be very clear on a lot of things, but she knew that protecting Jisoo was of the utmost importance.

It seemed that she had manifested a sin while she was knocked out, and that was the reason why the Infernal guard members had retreated. Whatever Jisoo turned into must have been pretty scary, because even the three of them had so much trouble dealing with just one priest.

But at the same time, she was also happy because they had gotten the key. That meant she could go ahead and have her mom healed! She grinned widely at Bambam who smiled back at her.

"We survived that ordeal. That was fucking painful." she told him as she held on to her shoulder and rotated her arm. 

"It was. Damn, I never thought we would get out of that alive." Bambam responded.

"Yeah, but we did, thankfully." she sighed, "We could have died, but here we are, and you got the key! Mom will be okay!" 

Bambam gave her a forced smile, one she knew so well, "Yeah, we did."

"You okay Bam?"

Bambam looked down, "Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I'm just worried."

"Worried about what?"

He seemed to be contemplating something, then he looked at her, "I was just thinking about the key."

Lisa was a bit confused by what he meant, "Why would you be worried about the key? Were you not able to get it?"

"No, no, I was able to. It's just that, I did hear rumors about it being...cursed. The priest had said something that made sense."

"What do you mean cursed? What did the priest tell you?"

Bambam held his knuckle, "According to him, if we use the key, we can heal anybody, even if they are on the brink of death. But...there is a catch."

Lisa paused for a bit, finally, she found her voice and asked him, "And what is the catch?"

He inhaled deeply, "The catch is, if we use it, whatever sickness, ailment, wound or etc the person had, would be transferred randomly to someone else. It could be anyone. Imagine, giving that to a kid, Lisa."

She was shocked about what she found out, that she almost wasn't able to utter the next words she was trying to say.

"So that means..."

"That means we will be saving your mom, yes, but at the expense of someone else's life."

_Shit._

She leaned back on her chair, not believing what was happening. She had hope, hope! Now, it was taken away in an instant.

"The priest said there was a way to break the curse, that there was a certain rule we had to follow to make it happen. But whatever that rule is, I have no idea."

Lisa's mouth went dry, it almost seemed impossible.

"I thought we could save Mom."

Bambam bowed his head down, "I thought so too. I'm sorry, Lisa."

There was no way she was letting this happen, her mom didn't deserve this. It was her fault that she got that! It was because she had been too stubborn to listen! Now, her mom was living like this because of her! Because of her decisions!

She closed her eyes, and the kind, warm brown eyes of a girl she wished she would just forget swam in her memories. Her smile was etched in her brain, but because she had fought for her, this was what happened. 

That's what you get for falling in love with an elf.

She then clenched her fists and then opened her eyes, she was not going to let this chance slip away.

"Look Bam, I know it is pretty fucked up, but I can't let my mom die. I just can't, she needs to live! It was my fault in the first place. So I'll make the decision, I want her to be healed by the key, whatever it takes."

Bambam held her hand, "It wasn't your fault Lisa, it wasn't your fault you fell in love with her. She loved you too, and would have done anything for you, but she couldn't risk having the wrath of her family after you. She learned her lesson when her father gave your mom the sickness. She has been trying to find a cure, and she was the one who actually pointed me to the sin key."

Lisa laughed, "Yeah, and what good did that do?" 

"Lisa..."

"Look, Bam, I don't care. I will carry the guilt with me with whoever gets the sickness."

"Your mom will never agree to that!"

"That's why we won't tell her."

"Jeez, think about this for one sec!"

I have!" she seethed, breathing hard, "I have thought about how I could help my mom for the past year and a half! I don't care what I will do, I need to save her!" Lisa says angrily as she gets up from the bed she was staying on.

"You don't have to do this, Lis. It will eat you up someday."

Lisa shrugged, "Then it will. What is more important is that my mom lives."

"But someone undeserving might die as a sacrifice in the end."

Lisa gave her a sad smile, "Then, it would be a worthy sacrifice."


End file.
